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Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1985 Nov;22(5):856–857. doi: 10.1128/jcm.22.5.856-857.1985

New cause for false-positive results with the cryptococcal antigen test by latex agglutination.

W H Boom, D J Piper, K L Ruoff, M J Ferraro
PMCID: PMC268543  PMID: 4056010

Abstract

The highly specific and sensitive latex agglutination test for cryptococcal antigen detection in cerebrospinal fluid is routine in many hospitals. Contamination of cerebrospinal fluid by a minute amount of syneresis fluid (surface condensation) from agar gave a strongly positive reaction which was heat stable, was not eliminated by pronase treatment, and was not detected by the normal rabbit globulin controls. These observations were valid for three commercially available test kits and could represent a preventable cause of some unexplained false-positive tests despite the use of adequate controls.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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