Development of a rapid immunodiagnostic test for Haemophilus ducreyi.

Haemophilus ducreyi is the etiologic agent of chancroid, a sexually transmitted disease that increases the rate of transmission of human immunodeficiency virus. Chancroid ulcerations are difficult to distinguish from those produced by syphilis and herpes. Diagnosis based solely on clinical grounds is inaccurate, and culture is insensitive.

Immunochromatographic strip test for rapid detection of diphtheria toxin: description and multicenter evaluation in areas of low and high prevalence of diphtheria.

An immunochromatographic strip (ICS) test was developed for the detection of diphtheria toxin by using an equine polyclonal antibody as the capture antibody and colloidal gold-labeled monoclonal antibodies specific for fragment A of the diphtheria toxin molecule as the detection antibody. The ICS test has been fully optimized for the detection of toxin from bacterial cultures; the limit of detection was approximately 0.5 ng of diphtheria toxin per ml within 10 min.

Characterization of the hemolytic activity of Haemophilus ducreyi.

H. ducreyi is the causative agent of chancroid, a genital ulcer disease most prevalent in developing countries. Chancroid enhances the heterosexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus and is identified in focal outbreaks in the United States, but little is known about its pathogenesis.

Haemophilus ducreyi attaches to and invades human epithelial cells in vitro.

Haemophilus ducreyi is a sexually transmitted pathogen that causes genital ulcers and inguinal adenopathy. Because chancroidal ulcers are most commonly located on the foreskins of uncircumcised males, we utilized human foreskin epithelial cells (HFECs) to investigate the initial interaction of H. ducreyi with its host.