The post-mortem diagnosis of influenzal infection by fluorescent IgG, IgA and IgM antibody studies on necropsy blood

Abstract

SUMMARYNecropsy blood from cases diagnosed as dying from influenza A was examined for specific antibody in the IgG, IgA and IgM fractions and a specific diagnosis of recent infection was made if either 1gM or IgA antibody and low titres of IgG antibody were found. By these criteria a diagnostic rate of 77 % was found in those cases from whom no virus was isolated. The use of infected cell monolayers grown on polytetrafluoroethylene-coated slides gave a simple method of carrying out these antibody assays, and the use of necropsy blood did not require any special methods of transport of specimens to the virus laboratory.

Recent influenza virus A infections in forensic cases of sudden unexplained death

“…DE SILVA et cd. (7) have previously demonstrated that a serological diagnosis of recent influenza is possible post mortem.…”

Detection of antibodies of the IgM class in sera of patients recently infected with influenza viruses.

“…have previously been demonstrated by immunofluorescence procedures in the sera of patients recently infected with influenza virus (De Silva et al, 1973;Urquhart, 1974). However, using immuno-fluorescence, Brown and O'Leary (1973) found that, in naturally infected individuals all the specific influenza antibody with IgM specificity was of the 7S type.…”

“…Specific IgM has been detected after recent natural infection with influen2a A virus by haemagglutination-inhibition following gel chromatography (Dobrovolskaya, 1971), radioimmunoassay (Daugharty et al, 1972), and immunofluorescence (Brown and O'Leary, 1973;De Silva et al, 1973;Urquhart, 1974). However, although specific IgM of the 19S class has been found by some workers (Dobrovolskaya, 1971;Daugharty et al, 1972) such specific IgM has been found to be exclusively of the 7S type by others (Brown and O'Leary, 1973).…”