EVALUATION OF 5 IMMUNODIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES IN ECHINOCOCCOSIS PATIENTS

Abstract

Double diffusion (DD), indirect hemagglutination (IHA), immunoelectrophoresis (IEP), latex agglutination(LA) and complement fixation (CF) tests were evaluated for sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of 141 surgically-proven Turkana echinococcosis patients and 10 controls. The overall sensitivities for the tests were as follows: IHA, 86.7%; LA, 53.3%; CF, 63.3%; DD, 55.0%; IEP, 55.0%. LA and CF tests produced a higher number of false positive results; IHA gave a false positive result in 10% of cases; no false positives were obtained with IEP and DD. A combination of the latter 3 tests would offer the best chance of detecting specific anti-Echinococcus antibodies, with an average sensitivity of 62.7%. The possible reasons for the relatively high incidence of false negative values are discussed.