Specific cross-reactivity in sera from cystic echinococcosis patients in an enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot for cysticercosis diagnostics.

A commercially available enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot originally intended for diagnosis of cysticercosis was evaluated for echinococcosis diagnosis, because a characteristic band pattern--different from the specific cysticercosis pattern--was observed in sera from patients with echinococcosis. This band pattern was observed in 29 (78%) of 37 parasitologically proven cystic echinococcosis patients. Specificity of these bands was 100% for echinococcosis, when tested with 75 control sera.