Inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for serotyping of group B streptococcal isolates.

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is one of the most common organisms causing neonatal sepsis as well as serious infections in adults. Serotyping the organism is important in studying the epidemiology of the disease as well as deciding a course of treatment. There are several methods available for serotyping. Most of them need high-titered sera and are not quantitative. We are reporting a new inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for serotyping which is sensitive and specific compared to the conventional methods but does not need high-titered serotype-specific antisera, as the specificity is controlled by the polysaccharide coating on the ELISA plates. The method can also be quantitative, and we have measured polysaccharide elaborated by different serotype V strains. Thus, the inhibition ELISA method will be useful in serotyping for epidemiological studies, assessing virulence, and performing strain selection for vaccine production.