[Enzyme immunoassay and polymerase chain reaction for evaluation of brucella persistence]

The complex approach, including the use of traditional bacteriological and serological methods, as well as the polymerase chain (PCR) reaction and the enzyme immunoassay (EIA), was used for evaluation of Brucella (the causative agents of brucellosis) persistence in the dynamics of the infectious process in patients with the acute and chronic forms of brucellosis as well as in experimentally infected laboratory animals. Sick humans and experimental animals were found to have positive PCR and EIA reactions at different periods of the disease. The use of these methods makes it possible to evaluate indirectly the persistence of Brucella.