[Serum antibody findings in trichinosis (author's transl)]

Serum samples of 66 persons who had eaten meat from a wild boar were tested two to three times within 11 months for antibodies against extracts from Trichinella larvae. Watery extract of Trichinella spiralis larvae served as antigen. Complement-fixation was of little use because of its lack of sensitivity. Indirect haemagglutination and the ELISA test (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) gave uncertain results only in individual cases. There was a relationship between the clinical picture and the mean antibody concentration, clearer in the ELISA test than the indirect haemagglutination one. A fall in antibody titre was observed within the period of observation in only one third of patients. Results with sera of control subjects were of only limited use in relation to the specificity of the demonstrated antibodies.