Antibody Tests for Ocular Toxoplasmosis

¹ Uveitis Laboratory, Howe Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Mass.
² Uveitis Laboratory, Howe Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Mass.; Present address, J. Hillis Miller Health Center, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.

The recently modified fluorescence inhibition test for antibodies to toxoplasmosis is safe and relatively simple to perform. It appears to detect antibodies early in the course of acute systemic infection but is less sensitive than either the dye test or hemagglutination test in detecting chronic infection. Although hemagglutinating antibodies develop later than dye test antibodies in the course of acute systemic toxoplasmosis, the hemagglutination test correlates very well in titer with serum from patients ivith subacute or chronic infection, such as that seen in ocular disease. Since most of the proved cases of ocular toxoplasmosis have low dye titers that might xoell be undetected in the less sensitive FI test, this test appears to be inadequate for the study of ocular toxoplasmosis.