[Studies on the detection of antibodies to Neisseria gonorrheae using pilus antigen].

The formation of antibodies against pilus antigen of strain F-62 was studied by indirect hemagglutination in the sera of 100 patients. The criterion for the diagnosis of gonorrheal disease was a positive culture of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. A positive smear test (staining with methylene blue) was accepted only in a few cases if the chain of infection could be followed completely. Retrospective studies showed that 75% of our patients with gonorrheal disease had antibodies against pilus antigen. The specificity was 91.7%. Attention is drawn to problems involved in evaluating the test results.