The Diagnosis of Pneumococcal Chest Infection by Counter‐Current‐Immunoelectrophoresis

摘要

A simple, inexpensive method of counter‐current‐immunoelectrophoresis was used to detect pneumococcal antigens in sputum, serum and pleural fluid. Antigens were detected in sputa from 69 of subjects with pneumococcal pneumonia and there was a good correlation with the certainty of the clinical diagnosis. Serum antigens were found in 12.5 of subjects with either a definite or a presumed diagnosis and in one case from a patient who was not thought to have pneumococcal pneumonia. The pathogenic importance of antigens in the sputa of patients with a history of chronic respiratory disease was uncertain. Counter‐current‐immunoelectrophoresis was more sensitive than routine bacteriological methods for demonstrating the presence of pneumococci in pleural