Effect of Diagnostic Skin Testing on Antibody Levels for Histoplasmosis

Abstract

THE diagnostic evaluation of patients suspected of having either tuberculosis or a systemic fungous infection should now include among other things such immunologic procedures as skin testing and measurement of precipitating and complement-fixing antibody. Although these technics add great precision to the accuracy of diagnosis and help direct clinical evaluation the inherent limitations must be appreciated in order that each procedure may be utilized effectively.Prior and Saslaw,¹ Saslaw and Campbell² and Salvin et al.³ reported that repeated skin testing of young adults with histoplasmin boosted antibody titers. More recently, McDearman and Young⁴ and Nicholas and his associates^{5 , 6} found that . . .