Diphtheria IgG Toxoid Ab ELISA, 96 wells

INTENDED USE
For the quantitative determination of serum antibody response to diphtheria toxoid.

SUMMARY
Diphtheria is an acute communicable disease, caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae. The signs and symptoms of
infection are a pharyngeal membrane, sore throat, dysphasia, malaise, headache, and nausea. Death may result from
respiratory obstruction by the membrane or myocarditis from the toxin.
Although diphtheria is still a serious problem in many underdeveloped countries, active immunizations in many
developed countries have helped to decrease the number of reported cases of diphtheria infection. Recent epidemics
in eastern Europe and Russia, combined with low levels of protective diphtheria antitoxin (DAT) in adult
populations, have caused concern that outbreaks of diphtheria could occur in developed countries. A study in
northern Europe reported findings of 26% of the surveyed population being below the minimum protective level of
0.01 IU/ml.
A number of methods are available for evaluating the DAT levels in body fluids. Passive hemagglutination (PHA) is
widely used, but has been found to be often discrepant, rendering interpretation of the PHA test very risky for the
individual patient. The use of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for determining DAT levels has been evaluated
as simple to perform, economical, and precise. Thus the ELISA is a very practical method for seroepidemiological
purposes.