Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T08:38:20.075Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Serodiagnosis of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2009

F. J. Burt*
Affiliation:
Department of Virology, University of the Witwatersrand; and National Institute for Virology, Sandringham, Republic ofSouth Africa
P. A. Leman
Affiliation:
Department of Virology, University of the Witwatersrand; and National Institute for Virology, Sandringham, Republic ofSouth Africa
J. C. Abbott
Affiliation:
Department of Virology, University of the Witwatersrand; and National Institute for Virology, Sandringham, Republic ofSouth Africa
R. Swanepoel
Affiliation:
Department of Virology, University of the Witwatersrand; and National Institute for Virology, Sandringham, Republic ofSouth Africa
*
*Author for correspondence: F. J. Burt, National Institute for Virology, Private Bag X4, Sandringham 2131, South Africa.
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Several methods for demonstrating antibody to Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus were compared on serum samples taken from 101 patients during the acute stage of illness and at intervals for up to 59 months thereafter, with emphasis on early detection of the immune response. The deaths of 23 patients on days 5–14 of illness were ascribed to the effects of the disease; two patients died later from other causes. Very few of the patients who died from the acute illness mounted an antibody response detectable by the methods tested. Four patients who died and 18 who recovered were treated with immune plasma collected from recovered patients. Treated patients acquired IgG antibody from the plasma, but it was possible to discern the onset of an endogenous IgM response in those individuals who survived the disease by all of the methods tested. Indirect immunofluorescence (IF) tests detected IgM and/or IgG antibodies at the earliest on day 4 of illness in about 10% of patients who survived the disease, and by day 9 all survivors had antibodies demonstrable by IF. A biotin-streptavidin IF technique offered no advantage over the standard IF test for the early detection of IgG antibody, but demonstrated higher antibody titles and detected IgM antibody earlier in about a quarter of the patients tested. An IgM-capture enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) and an IgG sandwich ELISA demonstrated higher antibody titres than did IF tests, and detected antibody responses at an earlier stage of infection than did IF tests in about one-fifth of patients, but the reverse was true in a similar proportion of instances. A competition ELISA, which detected total antibody activity, produced lower titres than did the IgM and IgG ELISAs, but yielded results which were in close agreement with the findings in IF tests. It was concluded that the IF tests were most convenient for use in making a rapid serodiagnosis of the disease.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

References

1.Hoogstraal, H. The epidemiology of tick-borne Crimean-Congo haemorrhagie fever in Asia, Europe, and Africa. J. Med Entomol 1987; 15: 307417.Google Scholar
2.PJ, van Eeden, SF, van Eeden, JR, Joubert. JB, King, BW, van de Wai, WL, Miehell. A nosocomial outbreak of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagie fever at Tvgerberg Hospital. Part 1. Clinical features. S Afr Med, J 1985; 68: 711–7.Google Scholar
3.JR, Joubert, JB, King, DJ, Rossouw, Cooper, R. A nosocomial outbreak of Crimean Congo haemorrhagie fever at Tygerberg Hospital. Part 2. Clinical pathology and pathogenesis. S Afr Med J 1985; 68: 722–8.Google Scholar
4.AJ, Shepherd, Swanepoel, R, SP, Shepherd, PA, Leman. NK, Blackburn, AF, Hallett. A nosocomial outbreak of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagie fever at Tygerberg Hospital. Part 5. Virological and serological observations. S Afr Med J 1985; 68: 733–6.Google Scholar
5.AJ, Shepherd, Swanepoel, R, PA, Leman, SP, Shepherd. Comparison of methods for isolation and titration of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus. J Clin Microbiol 1986; 24: 654–6.Google Scholar
6.AJ, Shepherd, Swanepoel, R, DE, Gill. Evaluation of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and reversed passive hemagglutination for detection of Crimean Congo virus antigen. J Clin Microbiol 1988; 26: 347–53.Google Scholar
7.MA, Donets, GV, Rezapkin, Ivanov, AP, EA, Tkachenko. Immunosorbent assays for diagnosis of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagie fever (CCHF). Am J Trop Med Hyg 1982; 31: 156–62.Google Scholar
8.SE, Smirnova, AS, Karavanov. Detection of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagie fever virus antigen by solid phase enzyme immunosorbent assay. Acta Virol 1985; 29: 8790.Google Scholar
9.Saluzzo, J, Le Guenno, B. Rapid diagnosis of human Crimean Congo fever and detection of the virus in naturally infected ticks. J Clin Microbiol 1987; 25: 922–4.Google Scholar
10.TM, Logan, KJ, Linthicum, JR, Moulton, TG, Ksiazek. Antigen-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection and quantification of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus in the tick, Hyalomma truncalum. J Virol Methods 1993; 42: 3344.Google Scholar
11.AJ, Shepherd, Swanepoel, R, PA, Leman. Antibody response in Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever. Rev Infect Dis 1989; 11: 801–6.Google Scholar
12.Casals, J, GH, Tignor. Neutralization and hemagglutination-inhibition tests with Crimean-hemorrhagic fever-Congo virus. Proc. Soc Exp Biol Med 1974; 145: 960–6.Google Scholar
13.Gaidamovich, S, Klisenko, G, Shanoyan, N, Obukhova, V, Melnikova, E. Indirect hemagglutination for diagnosis of Crimean hemorrhagic fever. Intervirology 1974; 2: 181–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Swanepoel, R, JK, Struthers, GM, McGillivray. Reversed passive hemagglutination and inhibition with Rift Valley fever and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever viruses. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1983; 32: 610–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15.Swanepoel, R, JK, Struthers, AJ, Shepherd, GM, McGillivray, MJ, Nel, PG, Jupp. Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in South Africa. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1983; 32: 1407–15.Google Scholar
16.DH, Clarke, Casal, J. Techniques for hemagglutination and hemagglutination-inhibition with arthropod borne viruses. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1958; 7: 561–73.Google Scholar
17.NK, Blackburn, TG, Besselaar, AJ, Shepherd, Swanepoel, R. Preparation of monoclonal antibodies for identifying Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1987; 37: 392–7.Google Scholar
18.AM, Smith, RS, Tedder. Development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for Hepatitis B e antigen and antibody. J Virol Methods 1981; 3: 111.Google Scholar
19.MB, Wilson, PK, Nakane. Recent developments in the periodate method of conjugating horseradish peroxidase to antibodies. In: W, Knapp, Holubat, K, Wicks, G, eds. Immunofluorescence and related staining techniques. Amsterdam: Elsevier/North Holland Biomedical Press, 1978: 215–24.Google Scholar
20.FJ, Burt, Swanepoel, R, LEO, Braack. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for the detection of antibody to Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus in the sera of livestock and wild vertebrates. Epidemiol Infect 1994; 111: 547–57.Google Scholar
21.van der Groen, J, Groen, G, Hoofd, G, Osterhaus, A. Comparison of immunofluorescence and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for the serology of Hantaan virus infections. J Virol Methods 1989; 23: 195203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22.Swanepoel, R, AJ, Shepherd, PA, Leman, SP, Shepherd, GB, Miller. A common-source outbreak of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever on a dairy farm. S Afr Med J 1985; 68: 635–7.Google ScholarPubMed
23.CJ, Peters, JW, LeDuc. Bunyaviridae: bunyaviruses, phleboviruses and related viruses. In: RB, Belshe, ed. Textbook of human virology, 2nd ed.St Louis: Mosby Year Book Inc., 1991: 571614.Google Scholar