[Indication of the influenza virus in clinical samples using immunoenzyme and lanthanide immunofluorescence analyses]

A comparative study of the potentials of enzyme-immunoassay (EIA) and lanthanide immunofluorescent assay (LIFA) for influenza virus detection in nasopharyngeal aspirates and nasopharyngeal washings was carried out. Monospecific and polyclonal antisera to hemagglutinin polyclonal antisera to matrix protein as well as polyclonal and monoclonal antisera to nucleoprotein were used. The nasopharyngeal aspirates were shown to contain virus-specific antigens in the amounts sufficient for influenza virus detection with polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies. There was a good correlation between chromophore results by EIA and fluorescence level in LIFA. The sensitivity of the test systems used (EIA and LIFA) was shown to be insufficient for the detection of virus-specific material in the nasopharyngeal washings. Besides, there was no correlation between the results obtained by different test systems. It was concluded that nasopharyngeal aspirates should be collected for rapid influenza diagnosis by EIA and LIFA.