Evaluation of agglutiation latex test for serologic diagnosis of cystic echinococcosis

Abstract

We evaluated a latex agglutination test standardized for serological diagnosis of cystic echinococcosis. We used latex particles of 0.25 um in diameter, which were sensitized with antigen lyophilized total of hydatid cyst fluid of sheep. We used 80 serum samples, 40 patients operated on pathology confirmed hydatid disease, 20 patients with other parasitic diseases such as cysticercosis, fascioliasis, toxoplasmosis, taeniosis, Chagas disease and malaria, and 20 healthy people. It was found that of 40 serum samples from patients with hydatidosis was negative and one of the 40 serum samples from hydatidosis patients or people with no positive results four gave a sensitivity of 97.5%, specificity of 90.0%, predictive value 90.7% positive and negative 97.3%, with the agreement found to evaluate the repeatability and reproducibility of 100% in laboratories in endemic areas. We recommend the use of this test for the diagnosis of hydatid disease in endemic regions of Peru, also as a screening test in epidemiological studies.