Brucellosis IgM

Brucellosis is a multi-system disease that may present with a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations and that requires laboratory testing for diagnosis.

 The isolation of the organism from blood samples or other clinical specimens is the confirmatory test for the disease. However, the sensitivity of this technique depends on the stage of illness as well as on other factors. Furthermore, culture does not provide a rapid result. Therefore, the diagnosis often relies on serologic testing.

The incubation period is between one and three weeks, but may be as long as two months. Br. abortusand Br. melitensis may cause Undulant (Malta Fever) in humans. Typical symptoms begin as an acute febrile illness with nonspecific flu-like signs such as fever, headache, malaise, back pain, myalgia and generalized aches. Drenching sweats can occur, particularly at night. Splenomegaly, hepatomegaly, coughing and pleuritic chest pain are sometimes seen. Gastrointestinal signs including anorexia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and constipation occur frequently in adults but less often in children.

During the first days, IgM is the only immunoglobulin that appears and drops after 3 months. As the disease progresses, IgM recedes quantitatively and IgG becomes predominant. In chronic brucellosis, IgG is produced for an extended period and persists after recovery. Thus detection of Brucella IgM is the only marker in acute infection.

An enzyme immunoassay for the quantitative determination of human IgM antibodies against Brucella in serum and plasma is now available in ALFA LABORATORIES.