Study of persistence of maternal antibodies to varicella-zoster virus by indirect haemagglutination, with result control by radioimmunoassay.

The persistence of maternal antibody against varicella-zoster virus was studied by the method of indirect haemagglutination (IH) and a control of the results was performed by radioimmunoassay (RIA). The findings were analysed with reference to the constant half-life of passively acquired IgG and the titre range and frequency of antibodies in 220 persons of fertile age representative of the normal population. Statistical analysis of expected and the experimentally obtained data was performed. Among the normal population, the expectancy is a gradual decrease in maternal IH antibody titres to negativity during the first 10 months of life and 100% sero-negativity by the 11th and 12th month. The experimental data showed a decrease in IH seropositivity from the initial 100% in 1-month infants to 27% in 6-month and 7% in 12-month infants. Nine out of twelve of the experimentally found positive titres in infants during the second half of their first year of life deviated from the normal population sample. The results obtained by both of the methods used were in good agreement.