Ortho enzyme immunoassay versus McCoy cell monolayers stained by iodine or fluorescent antibody for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis.

We compared a new enzyme immunoassay (Ortho Diagnostics Systems, Inc., Raritan, N.J.) (EIA) with iodine and fluorescent-antibody staining of inoculated McCoy cell monolayers for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis in our female outpatient populations. EIA was more sensitive than iodine at a statistically significant level, but there were no statistically significant differences between EIA results and those for fluorescent-antibody staining.