Efficacy of immunological tests in diagnosis of acute human brucellosis

Abstract

The study was carried out in Al-Hashimyia hospital, Babylon governorate for theperiod from May, 2005 to May ,2006 to evaluate the results of some immunologicaltests in diagnosis of acute phase of brucellosis in human populations. A total of 410patients with suspected brucellosis were admitted to the hospital with age-groupranged from 18 to 65 years. 150 patients were studied, as documented cases withacute brucellosis , and 150 healthy persons were involved as control group. Numerousimmunological tests like ELISA test , Rose- Bengal test , standard tube agglutinationtest and E-rosette test were used to demonstrate cellular and humoral immuneresponse of infected host . ELISA test was the best and accurate test in diagnosis ofthe acute infection, followed by standard tube agglutination test . All cases of acutebrucellosis showed a high number of active rosette –forming cells.