Immunity to diphtheria in Siena.

The aim of this study, carried out in 1993, was to evaluate diphtheria immunity in Siena. Diphtheria antitoxin levels were measured by means of the immunoenzymatic test (ELISA) in serum samples of 602 apparently healthy subjects (239 males and 363 females) of all ages residing in Siena. According to widely used criteria, 6% of the total population were susceptible to diphtheria (antibody levels < 0.

Evaluation of an ELISA kit for epidemiological detection of antibodies to Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites in human sera and bloodspot eluates.

Antibodies to Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites represent a serological transmission indicator, which can be applied in epidemiological studies to estimate the intensity of malaria transmission. An ELISA method has been developed as an industrial kit to detect these antibodies, using a chemically synthesized (NANP)40 peptide as antigen. The results obtained with this kit are compared in the present paper with those obtained by an ELISA test already applied in epidemiological studies.

Specific fibrinogen quantitation by electroimmunodiffusion in agarose gel containing heparin.

In the determination of plasma fibrinogen by electroimmunodiffusion, commercial sodium heparin, previously included in the agarose gel, by interacting with fibrinogen molecules, enhances their anodic mobility more strongly than after carbamylation with potassium cyanate. The proposed method provides an increase in sensitivity and specificity which practically eliminates the influence of fibrinogen degradation products.