Development of a slide agglutination assay for detection of blastomycosis

Blastomycosis, caused by the thermally dimorphic fungus Blastomyces dermatitides, which is endemic to eastern regions of the USA, is commonly misdiagnosed as a viral or bacterial infection and therefore treated improperly. Over the years, many immunodiagnostic assays to aid in the diagnosis of blastomycosis have been developed; however, a reliable assay for use in local clinics still remains elusive. Procedures for a slide agglutination assay for detection of antibody in serum from rabbits immunized with B. dermatitidis were evaluated with antigenic preparations from B. dermatitidis adsorbed to polystyrene microparticles. Yeast‐phase lysates from five isolates of B. dermatitides: namely ER‐593 (Eagle River, WI, USA), ER‐598 (Eagle River, WI, USA), 48938 (India), B5896 (Mt. Iron, MN, USA), and T‐58 (TN, USA) were evaluated for their sensitivity and specificity. Sensitivities of the lysates ranged from 29% to 83% whereas specificities ranged from 13% to 100%. Lysate ER‐593 provided the most promising results with a sensitivity of 82% and specificity of 100%. This study provides suggests that a simple rapid slide agglutination assay for detecting blastomycosis may be used for screening patients with suspected B. dermatitidis infection.