Significance of screening tests in diagnosis of infectious mononucleosis

The investigation included 91 patients in who an acute or previous EBV infection was established by ELISA test. All patients were also subjected to the Paul-Bunnell-Davidsohn test, while 20 patients were tested by the rapid screening test Clearview IM. The diagnosis of acute infective mononucleosis was in 61 patients (67%) confirmed by the Elisa test, and in 12 patients (19.67%) by the Paul-Bunnell-Davidsohn test, while the rapid screening test Clearview IM demonstrated too low a detection of heterophile antibodies. The rapid screening test was not reliable. In 25% cases, the test was invalid, at early infection stages the rapid test failed to diagnose any case of the EBV virus infection. Paul-Bunell-Davidsohn was often negative, especially with young children. Therefore, priority should be given to virology tests based on the detection of specific antibodies to EBV antigen.