Reverse passive haemagglutination with freeze-dried stabilized antibody-coupled red cells for detecting rotavirus in faecal samples

Abstract A total of 159 samples of faeces collected from patients with gastroenteritis were tested for rotavirus antigen by reverse passive haemagglutination (RPH). When compared with electron microscopy, for detecting rotavirus antigen, RPH had a sensitivity of 96·0% and a specificity of 98·5%. Simple methods for removing non-specific red cell agglutinins and anti-globulin factors from the faecal samples are reported.