RUBEM – “Measles (Rubeola) IgM Antibody”

Update to specimen requirements, rejection criteria, stability, methodology, and reference range.

Specimen Preparation: Centrifuge, separate serum from cells within 2 hours, and send 0.5 mL serum in a screw capped plastic vial. Parallel testing is preferred and convalescent specimens must be received within 30 days from receipt of the acute specimens. Mark specimens plainly as “acute” or “convalescent”.

Minimum volume: 0.3 mL

Rejection Criteria: Bacterially contaminated, heat-inactivated, hemolyzed, icteric, lipemic, or turbid specimens.

Stability:

Room temperature: 48 hours
Refrigerated: 14 days
Frozen: 30 days (avoid repeated freeze/thaw cycles)

Methodology: Semi-quantitative Indirect Fluorescent Antibody (IFA)

Reference Range: Less than 1:10