INTEREST AND LIMITS OF LATEX TESTS AS MEA NS OF BIOLOGICAL LIQUIDS DIAGNOSIS IN ABIDJAN

From 313 samples of CSF, urine, sera and pleural liquid, the authors s how how appreciable is the contribution in research of soluble antigen s by sensibilized latex particles agglutination method in etiologic di agnosis, especially during meningitis, pulmonary and neonatal infectio ns. Soluble antigens were declared positives in 62,26 % of cases again st S. pneumoniae, 25,4 % of cases against H. influenzae, 6,66 % of cas es against S. agalactiae, 5,71 % of cases against N. meningitidis C, w ith variable percentages from one biological liquid to another. Compar ed to classical bacteriologic techniques, this method allows the diagn osis of an infection even when decapitated, and could be used in emerg ency diagnosis.