Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for toxocariasis, its application to the sera of children.

The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using ES antigen (20 μg/ml) was applied to Toxocara canis infection in man. To evaluate the procedure, the titration was carried out to the positive and negative sera. The ELISA values of ≥ 0.20 with the positive sera from the patients of visceral and ocular larva migrans and of < 0.10 with the negative sera were obtained with a serum of 1:160 dilution. Based on the above criteria, 83 healthy children were tested. Of which, 3.6% were positive. The distribution of these ELISA values had a median value of 0.063. The ELISA value of ≥ 0.20, considered to be positive, was three times and more the median value. It was suggested from these results obtained that this ELISA technique may be useful in the detection of antibodies to this parasite and in the seroepidemiological surveys.