Use of the biotin-streptavidin interaction to improve flavivirus detection by immunofluorescence and ELISA tests.

The specificity and sensitivity of immunofluorescence microscopy and ELISA tests were compared both with and without the use of biotinylated anti-species antibody and streptavidin, conjugated with either fluorescein isothiocyanate or horse radish peroxidase. In the biotin-streptavidin system monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies against yellow fever virus had titres between ten- and fifty-fold higher and background readings, particularly in ELISA tests, were noticeably reduced. Plaque variants of yellow fever virus, selected for their apparent loss of antigenic determinants against some monoclonal antibodies in conventional fluorescence tests, were found to possess the antigenic determinants when tested with the more sensitive system.