To the Editor: As members of the French Ministry of Health Working Group on autochthonous urinary schistosomiasis, we read with interest the 2 recently published articles regarding schistosomiasis screening of travelers to Corsica, France (1,2). Surprisingly, the authors of both articles lacked evidence to support the diagnosis of schistosomiasis in most of what they referred to as confirmed ca...

To the Editor: As members of the French Ministry of Health Working Group on autochthonous urinary schistosomiasis, we read with interest the 2 recently published articles regarding schistosomiasis screening of travelers to Corsica, France (1,2). Surprisingly, the authors of both articles lacked evidence to support the diagnosis of schistosomiasis in most of what they referred to as confirmed ca...

Helicobacter pylori infection is common in Jamaica. Describing its epidemiology in a population-based study depends largely on serology, but serologic assays have not been validated in this population. To address this issue, we examined the presence of H. pylori infection in 30 sequential adult patients with gastroduodenal symptoms by three biopsy-based methods (rapid urease test, histology, an...

BACKGROUND Because definitive methods for diagnosing primary syphilis are limited, it is important to optimize the sensitivity of serodiagnosis. OBJECTIVE To determine the most sensitive testing approach to the diagnosis of primary syphilis, using the commonly available serologic tests: the Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) test and the Treponema pallidum particle agglutination (TP-...

OBJECTIVES The purpose of the present study is to examine the role of the outcome of the labial salivary gland biopsy (LSGB) in the diagnostic procedure of patients suspected of suffering from Sjögren's syndrome (SS). MATERIAL AND METHODS In a retrospective study the result of histopathological assessment of 94 consecutively taken labial salivary gland biopsies has been examined. For the diag...

During a 38-month period, 13 of 41 persons with test results positive for IgM antibody to hepatitis A virus did not meet the case definition for hepatitis A or have a clear indication for testing, which suggests that test results were falsely positive. No single testing platform or kit was used. Health care providers should restrict serologic testing for hepatitis A to patients with clinical or...

A screening test for the diagnosis of tuberculosis by immunodot (IDt) is described, using an antigen of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, namely, a 38-kDa glycoprotein which has shown great specificity in previous serologic analyses. The test was used to examine 28 sera from patients with lung tuberculosis. Of these, 85% were positive by micro-ELISA and by the IDt test herein described. Control sera ...