Evaluation of serological techniques for titration of rubella antibody.

THE epidemic of rubella which raged Tthrough this country in 1964 and 1965 more clearly defined the role of this virus as an important and potentially preventable cause of congenital anomalies of the fetus. Since the virus was first isolated, the need for a rapid and reliable technique for the detection of rubella antibody has been recognized. The discovery of rubella hemagglutinin1'2 and the development of an improved method for preparing rubella complement fixing antigen giving high serum antibody titers3 were reported in 1967. Preliminary studies have indicated the usefulness of these new techniques for rubella antibody titration. Recent comparative studies4'5 have focused attention on the different patterns of antibody response shown by the various serologic tests generally available for rubella diagnosis. This report compares the results obtained with the hemagglutination inhibition (HI), complement fixation (CF), indirect neutralization (NT) and fluorescent antibody (FA) tests as performed in our laboratory in an effort to evaluate the usefulness of these techniques for serological diagnosis of acute rubella infection and for testing immunity to rubella.