Use of the immunoautoradiographic method for determining HBsAg in the blood of serum hepatitis patients

: The use of immunoautoradiography for HBsAg detection increased its primary detection rate in the blood of patients with acute serum hepatitis to 70% (by 12--15% more than in the gel precipitation test). Antigenemia in patients with acute serum hepatitis has been shown to last much longer than could be determined by gel precipitation. As a result of this, over 60% of the patients with HBs-antigenemia in the acute period are discharged from the hospital still containing the antigen. A correlation between the duration of antigenemia in the GP test and the speed of antigen disappearance from the blood according to the IAR test was established. The IAR method was found to be highly sensitive and specific; its application helps solving some theoretical and practical problems.