SLIDE AGGLUTINATION-TEST FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF PULMONARY AND EXTRA-PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS

Objective: Evaluation of a 2 min slide agglutination test to detect th e presence of antibodies directed against Mycobacterium tuberculosis a ntigens. Design: The test utilizes solible antigens extracted from a c ultivable new species of non-pathogenic saprophytic mycobacterium, Myc obacterium w, which shares antigenic determinants with M. tuberculosis . The soluble antigens are covalently linked to carboxylated polystyre ne latex beads. Results: The sensitivity of the assay was increased fr om 78% (reported earlier), to 90.2% for pulmonary tuberculosis and 85. 7% for extra-pulmonary tuberculosis. The specificity of the test was d etermined by testing the sera of apparently healthy controls, and pati ents with other respiratory tract infections and rheumatoid arthritis. Among the apparently healthy controls, 7.3% tested positive. None of the sera from the patients with other diseases gave positive agglutina tion. Conclusion: This simple and rapid technique could be suitable fo r mass screening for pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis.