Early diagnosis of rickettsioses by electrochemiluminscence.

The diagnosis of acute rickettsioses during the acute phase of the disease is challenging. We present preliminary evidence that antigen-capture using streptavidin-coated magnetic beads with biotinylated anti-rickettsia typhi rabbit polyclonal antibodies followed by electrochemiluminescent detection with ruthenylated antibodies of the same specificity could be used for the diagnosis of rickettsial diseases in the acute phase.