ABSTRACT

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a zoonosis, caused by the metacestode form of Echinococcus granulosus. The diagnosis of CE is difficult using the clinical features of the disease and it depends on the combination of serological methods aimed at determining the specific antibody response and on imaging techniques that support the serology. In this study, 465 patients who presented with a suspicion of CE to the serology laboratory of the Parasitology Department of Dokuz Eylul University between January 2003 and June 2004 were evaluated. The specific anti-E. granulosus antibodies in the serum samples of patients were examined by an in-house enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test and a commercial indirect hemagglutination (IHA) test. Seventy eight (17%) of the patients were positive with ELISA and 65 (14%) of them were positive with IHA with varying titrations. Fifty six (12%) of the sera were positive with both methods. Fifty-six of the eighty patients who underwent CE surgery at different times before this study were found to be seropositive, while the remaining 24 were found to be seronegative. We concluded that it is very important to combine at least two methods in the serological diagnosis of CE.