ANTI-PLESIOMONAS SHIGELLOIDES AGGLUTINATING AND COMPLEMENT-FIXING ANTIBODY-TITERS IN NORMAL INDIVIDUALS AND DIARRHEAL PATIENTS IN EDO STATE, NIGERIA

One hundred patients with diarrhoea and 50 asymptomatic individuals at tending various hospitals in Edo State, Nigeria, were screened for ser um complement-fixing and agglutinating antibodies to Plesiomonas shige lloides using the complement-fixation and agglutination tests, Seventy (70%) of the 100 patients and 20 (40%) of the 50 asymptomatic individ uals had detectable complement-fixing antibodies at titres ranging fro m 1:32 to 1:128 and 1:8 to 1:32 respectively. Results suggest that cas es of diarrhoea in this environment may be due to P. shigelloides, but the demonstration of antibodies in asymptomatic individuals show that they also have serum antibodies against P, shigelloides, The exclusiv e use of antibody responses in the diagnosis of P, shigelloides infect ions should, therefore, be interpreted with caution.