Rubella Virus Complement-fixation Test

Abstract

METHODS in present use for the serological diagnosis of rubella consist of the neutralization^1,2 and the indirect fluorescent-antibody³ techniques. The former is expensive and laborious and requires usually 7–10 days to carry out, while the latter, although it can give an answer within a matter of hours, is a difficult technique for routine diagnosis. The preparation of a complement-fixing antigen has recently been described⁴, providing for a rapid and simple test of infection. The antigen, which is cell-associated, was made in the RK₁₃ line of rabbit kidney cells or in primary cultures of kidney from the African green monkey. The infected cells were processed 2 days and 7–10 days respectively after inoculation of virus. Successful antigen preparation, however, is in both cases dependent on a critically large virus inoculum; otherwise results are erratic. The present report describes a simpler and more reliable method of complement-fixing antigen preparation, involving the use of aged cultures of a chronically infected line of LLC–MK₂ cells⁵.