Toxoplasma Scheme information

The Toxoplasma Serology Subschemes are operated from the department of Clinical Parasitology, Hospital for Tropical Diseases, London in collaboration with the Toxoplasma Reference Laboratories in Inverness and Swansea and the Department of Medical Microbiology, St George's Hospital, London.

Personnel involved in the Scottish Toxoplasma Reference Laboratory :

Drs Darrel Ho-Yen and Jean Chatterton

Personnel involved in the Toxoplasma Reference Laboratory, Swansea:

Dr Ed Guy and Ms Janet Francis

Personnel involved in the Department of Medical Parasitology, St Georges Hospital:

Drs Rick Holliman and Julie Johnson.

	Toxoplasma IgG/Total antibodies	Toxoplasma IgM
Year subscheme recognised as UKNEQAS	1993	1999
Examinations requested	Detection of toxoplasma IgG or total antibodies	Detection of toxoplasma IgM antibodies
Material distributed:	Human serum	Human serum
Number of distributions/annum:	3	2
Number of specimens /distribution	6	4
Performance assessment criteria:	The ability to confirm or exclude the presence of IgG or total antibodies	The ability to confirm or exclude the presence of IgM

Performance review

The subschemes are designed to provide information allowing participants to gain an insight into their performance and to take individual action to investigate and remedy any discrepancies.

Information provided for participants

Following analyses of results, a full summary of results is provided.  This includes specific comments on the Toxoplasma specific antibody content of each specimen and, for one specimen, its relevance to the clinical details.

Provision of Specimens

The specimens are provided by the Toxoplasma Reference Laboratories in Inverness and Swansea and the Department of Medical Microbiology, St George's Hospital, London.

Pre- and Post-distribution Testing of Specimens

The specimens for Toxoplasma IgG/total antibodies are assayed using the Dye Test which is the Gold Standard, Latex Agglutination (LA) and IgG ELISA tests by the Toxoplasma Reference Laboratories in Inverness and Swansea and the Department of Medical Microbiology, St George's Hospital, London.

There is no Gold Standard assay in the UK for the detection of IgM antibodies and problems may arise when less sensitive assays are used.  However pre- and post testing of specimens are carried out using the ISAGA and a Toxoplasma IgM specific ELISA.

Current Distribution

Teaching Information

Participants Study Days