The diagnostic significance of specific serum IgA detection in cytomegalovirus infections.

The prevalence of virus-specific serum antibodies of IgA class against cytomegalovirus (CMV) was determined in 228 healthy blood donors and in 112 patients suspected of CMV infection. All patients had a titer of 40 or higher in the complement fixation test. Specific CMV-IgA was found in 81 per cent of CMV-IgM positive patient sera and in 20 per cent of sera from patients strongly suspected of CMV infection, but with negative CMV-IgM. Less than 2 per cent of healthy blood donors had CMV specific serum IgA.