What approach can be used to decrease the chance of a false-positive result when performing latex agglutination to identify Cryptococcus infections?

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Pretreating the specimen with heat and pronase can reduce the chance of a false-positive result by removing nonspecific inhibitors or agglutinators that may be present in the specimen. Mixing the specimen with India ink is used to visualize Cryptococcus under a microscope, but it does not affect the specificity of the latex agglutination test. Freezing the specimen may affect the viability of the organism, but it does not improve the specificity of the test. Waiting for the patient to be symptomatic before testing may delay proper diagnosis and treatment.

What Approach Can Be Used to Decrease the Chance of a False-Positive