Reactivity of serologic tests for the detection of antibody specific to cytomegalovirus

A total of 212 sera were assayed for antibody specific for cytomegalovirus by complement fixation (CF), indirect immunofluorescence (IFA Electro-Nucleonics Laboratory, Inc., Bethesda, MD), ELISA (Cordis Laboratories, Inc., Miami, FL) and the FIAX system (International Diagnostic Technology, Santa Clara, CA). Correlation of CF with IFA, ELISA, and FIAX was 61%, 78%, and 71%, respectively. Quantitative correlation between IFA and FIAX and ELISA was not possible because of the broad range of reaction intensity of the latter two tests in sera with a particular IFA titer.