[The diagnostic value of a meningococcal-B erythrocyte diagnostic agent based on the group-specific polysaccharide]

In this work the diagnostic value of group B meningococcal erythrocyte diagnosticum was determined. 585 blood serum samples taken from adult donors were studied: 220 samples from practically healthy persons and 365 samples from 144 patients with meningococcal infection and purulent bacterial meningitis of nonmeningococcal etiology. Group B meningococcal erythrocyte diagnosticum was found to possess serological activity and to reveal the growth of specific antibodies in the sera of patients with meningococcal infection, serologically confirmed by the isolation of group B meningococcal culture, in 100% of cases on weeks 2-3 of the disease. Diagnostic characteristics--specificity and sensitivity--for group B erythrocyte diagnosticum were, respectively, 90.2% and 63.5%. The study revealed that antibodies to several group-specific meningococcal polysaccharides in blood sera can be simultaneously determined in the passive hemagglutination test with a set of erythrocyte diagnostica, which should be taken into consideration in the clinical interpretation of serological results.