The diagnosis of human hydatidosis by measurement of specific IgE antibody by enzyme immunoassay.

The sensitivity and specificity of an enzyme immunosorbent assay (EIA) for measurement of anti-Echinococcus granulosus specific IgE antibody using microtiter strips was evaluated. The sensitivity was 92.2% for 90 patients with cysts in the liver or other body sites but excluding the patients with cysts in the lungs or bones. In this latter group (n = 26) a sensitivity of 61.5% was recorded. The specificity for control groups comprising 89 blood bank sera from Spain and 48 sera from atopic Swedes was 100%. Patients infected with other parasites (n = 78) were usually negative (81%). 11 of the 15 false positives were found in patients with total IgE greater than 5,000 kU/l. The microtiter EIA method employed can be considered as a very convenient method to be included in the range of immunodiagnostic tests for human hydatid disease.