@article{93c7b0c8a55e4170a074fc74f038737b,
title = "The meningococcal antibody test: how useful in the diagnosis of meningococcal disease?",
abstract = "Based on 9257 [correction] blood samples received from 7365 patients with a request for a meningococcal antibody test (MAT) during a 10-year period (1986-1995), the usefulness of the test in the diagnosis of meningococcal disease was assessed. Of 635 patients with culture-confirmed meningococcal disease, 88% were seronegative on admittance to hospital and 90% were seropositive 10-15 days after onset of disease. The humoral immune response in children <2 years of age was weaker than in older children and adults. Among 893 MAT-positive patients without culture-confirmed meningococcal disease, 261 (29%) had been notified as cases of meningococcal disease. Among 228 patients notified as serologically confirmed the MAT results were consistent with the clinical diagnosis in 86%. MAT is a reliable tool for establishing a diagnosis in patients with suspected meningococcal disease. Key factors facilitating appropriate interpretation of negative as well as positive test results were: time(s) of sampling(s) after onset of disease, age of the patient and clinical features.",
keywords = "Adolescent, Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Antibodies, Bacterial, Antibody Formation, Child, Child, Preschool, Disease Outbreaks, Female, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Male, Meningococcal Infections, Middle Aged, Neisseria meningitidis, Reproducibility of Results, Retrospective Studies, Sensitivity and Specificity, Serologic Tests",
author = "N Weis and L Berthelsen and H Wachmann and I Lind",
year = "2005",
language = "English",
volume = "133",
pages = "217--27",
journal = "Epidemiology and Infection",
issn = "0950-2688",
publisher = "Cambridge University Press",
number = "2",
}