Evaluation of an antigencapture enzyme immunoassay for detection ofEntamoeba histolyticain stool samples

In order to identify the prevalence ofEntamoeba histolyticain tourists with diarrhoea returning from countries of the developing world, sensitivity and specificity of a commercially available enzyme immunoassay (EIA) kit for the detection ofEntamoeba histolyticacoproantigen in stool were evaluated. Five hundred seventy-seven specimens from 469 patients were examined by microscopy and EIA. Sixty-two specimens from 49 patients were considered positive forEntamoeba histolytica. Compared with microscopic examination of stool samples, the EIA was found to be slightly more sensitive (90.3% vs. 87.1%) and was 97.7% specific forEntamoeba histolytica.