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Slide Agglutination

Slide agglutination is a rapid and convenient method for determining the presence of agglutinating antibodies. A drop of concentrated an1iserum is mixed with a drop of heavy suspension of the cells in saline and is placed on a microscope slide or glass plate and rocked gently for a few minutes. Granulation or flocculation occurs in positive tests. Slide agglutination is only practicable when the clumping of organisms occur within a few minutes.

It is not suitable where the mixture of organisms and serum has to be incubated. Agglutination can be seen with the naked eye, but the use of some form of magnification is an advantage for this purpose agglutin­ation is examined with a hand lens, or under the microscope.