Preparing a national standard serum without an international reference serum
Many laboratories will not be able to obtain an international reference serum with which to compare their national standard serum. In this case, more rigorous HI testing of the pooled HI positive serum samples will be required to establish the HI titre of the standard serum. It is suggested that the serum is tested up to ten times. Use freshly prepared 4 HA units of antigen for each test and carry out the test on different days if possible. The results will be a range of HI titres. The most frequently occurring titre can be considered the HI titre of the standard serum. All future HI tests carried out on the standard serum should give this titre.