Indirect microhemagglutination test for varicella–zoster antibody determination

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Abstract
An indirect microhemagglutination assay (IHA) was devised because of a need to provide an alternative test to complement fixation (CF) for varicella–zoster (V–Z) antibody determination. Human erythrocytes were sequentially treated with 2% glutaraldehyde, 0.04% tannic acid, and 2% pyruvic aldehyde then exposed to sonicated V–Z infected cells. This same tanning procedure was suitable for herpes simplex and Epstein-Barr virus antigen attachment but unsatisfactory for several non-herpes-group viruses. V–Z antibody titres determined by IHA were generally 2 to 16 times higher than CF titres. Cross-reaction with herpes simplex antibody was minimal.