A comparison of the serum agar grouping and slide agglutination methods for the identification of Neisseria meningitidis strains.

The serum agar grouping (SAG) and slide agglutination (SA) tests were compared for their ability to identify strains of N. meningitidis. There was no significant difference between the two methods in respect of their relative sensitivity and detection ability. The most suitable concentration of antimeningococcal serum for SAG was found to be 1:10; however, the most suitable concentration will need to be established for each serum used. The ability of SAG to identify large numbers of N. meningitidis strains was confirmed.