[Evaluation of three different ELISA kits for the diagnosis of trichinellosis]

Human trichinellosis caused by Trichinella spp. is a widely distributed parasitic disease, acquired by ingestion of undercooked or raw meat containing larvae of the parasite. In January 2004, a trichinellosis outbreak following the consumption of raw minced meat ball, occurred in Izmir, Turkey. In the present study, an in-house excretory/secretory (ES) IgG ELISA and two commercial IgG ELISA kits (Kit # I; IBL, Hamburg, kit # II; Cypress, Belgium) have been used to evaluate their diagnostic efficiencies in this outbreak. Serum samples were collected from 100 patients with trichinellosis, from 16 patients with other parasitosis and autoimmune diseases (2 toxocariasis, 8 hydatic cyst, 1 fascioliasis, 5 rheumatoid arthritis) and from 20 healthy subjects. While the sensitivity of in-house ELISA has been found as 100%, the sensitivities of commercial kits number I and II have been found as 75% and 48%, respectively. The specificities of these three tests have been detected as 93.7%, 87.5% and 100%, respectively. The results obtained in this study suggest that in-house ELISA is of significant diagnostic value for the diagnosis of trichinellosis.