RSV IgM ELISA

An enzyme immunoassay for the qualitative and semiquantitative determination of IgM-class antibodies to Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in serum. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a negative-sense, enveloped RNA virus. The virion is variable in shape and size (average diameter of between 120 and 300 nm), is unstable in the environment (surviving only a few hours on environmental surfaces), and is readily inactivated. It is the causative pathogen for the most common infection of the respiratory tract.Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections usually occur during annual community outbreaks during the late fall, winter, or early spring months. The timing and severity of outbreaks in a community vary from year to year. Most infants become infected with RSV in their first winter season; between 25% and 40% have signs or symptoms of bronchiolitis or pneumonia, and 0.5% to 2% require hospitalization. Most children recover from illness in 8 to 15 days; the majority of children hospitalized for RSV infection is under 6 months of age. Most children will have serological evidence of RSV infection by 2 years of age. RSV also causes repeated infections throughout life, usually associated with moderate-to-severe cold-like symptoms; however, severe lower respiratory tract disease may occur at any age, especially among elderly or among those with compromised cardiac, pulmonary, or immune systems.The DRG Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) IgM ELISA Kit is a solid phase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) Patient samples are diluted with Sample Diluent andadditionally incubated with IgG-RF-Sorbent, containing hyper-immune anti-human IgG-class antibody to eliminate competitive inhibition from specific IgG and to remove rheumatoid factors. This pretreatment avoids false negative or false positive results. Microtiter wells as a solid phase are coated with Respiratory Syncytial Virus antigen. Pretreated patient specimens and ready-for-use controls are pipetted into these wells. During incubation Respiratory Syncytial Virus-specific antibodies of positive specimens and controls are bound to the immobilized antigens. After a washing step to remove unbound sample and control material horseradish peroxidase conjugated anti-human IgM antibodies are dispensed into the wells. During a second incubation this anti-IgM conjugate binds specifically to IgM antibodies resulting in the formation of enzyme-linked immune complexes. After a second washing step to remove unbound conjugate the immune complexes formed (in case of positive results) are detected by incubation with TMB substrate and development of a blue color. The blue color turns into yellow by stopping the enzymatic indicator reaction with sulfuric acid. The intensity of this color is directly proportional to the amount of Respiratory Syncytial Virus-specific IgM antibody in the patient specimen. Absorbance at 450 nm is read using an ELISA microtiter plate reader.