Enzyme-immunoassay in the detection of hepatitis B surface antigen

A new enzyme-immunoassay (EIA, Hepanostika Microelisa System) for the detection of hepatitis B surface antigen was evaluated against other methods, namely complement fixation, Hepanosticon, AusRIA II and Finnish Red Cross Radioimmunoassay (FRC-RIA). EIA detected the greatest number of positive samples in a serum panel consisting of 142 sera from clinical hepatitis patients. FRC-RIA was the most sensitive method for subtype ad, while EIA detected the ay specimen at the highest dilution. None of the test systems gave the 'optimal' result in the screening test, and it is proposed that a separate procedure for each antigen subtype should be carried out to detect the greatest number of positive samples.