1. Evaluation of Serodiagnostic Tests for Visceral Larva Migrans *
- Author
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Peter M. Schantz, Rebecca Dombroske, Raymond H. Cypess, and Lawrence T. Glickman
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Immunodiffusion ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Pathology ,Adolescent ,Hemagglutination ,Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ,Gastroenterology ,Serology ,Immunoenzyme Techniques ,Antigen ,Visceral larva migrans ,Virology ,Internal medicine ,parasitic diseases ,medicine ,Humans ,Child ,Aged ,biology ,Infant ,Flocculation Tests ,Hemagglutination Tests ,Middle Aged ,biology.organism_classification ,Ocular larva migrans ,medicine.disease ,Ouchterlony double immunodiffusion ,Infectious Diseases ,Child, Preschool ,Bentonite ,Larva Migrans, Visceral ,Female ,Parasitology ,Toxocara canis - Abstract
Four serologic techniques for the diagnosis of visceral larva migrans caused by Toxocara canis, namely indirect hemagglutination (IHA), bentonite flocculation (BF), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and double diffusion in agar (Ouchterlony), were evaluated using sera sent to the Center for Disease Control from patients with a presumptive diagnosis of visceral larva migrans (VLM). Patients having 5-6 of the clinical or laboratory criteria for VLM were designated as cases while those with 0-2 criteria served as controls. The sensitivity of the ELISA was 78.3% compared to 18.2%, 25.8% and 65.2% for the IHA, BF, and Ouchterlony, respectively; the sepcificity of all four tests was greater than 92%. The predivtive value of positive test was greater than 85% for all tests except the IHA, while the predictive value of a negative test was greater than 85% only for the ELISA. The results of a ELISA were reproducible in different laboratories. Based on these findings, the ELISA using a larval antigen appears to be the serodiagnostic method of choice for VLM.
- Published
- 1978
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