title: Immunodiagnosis of CNS parasitic infections.
abstract: The nature of many parasitic infections of the central nervous system (CNS) requires immunodiagnosis to confirm presumptive diagnoses. The CNS is the primary site of parasite infection for some parasitic organisms and for others, neurological infection occurs only in immunocompromised hosts. Still other parasites cause ectopic infections of the CNS and occur very rarely. This review concentrates on laboratory diagnosis of diseases that are caused by parasites with a primary predilection for the CNS. Emphasis is placed on laboratory diagnostic methods that are used and suitable for clinical diagnosis, rather than a comprehensive review of all the experimental methods that have been reported in the literature. Immunodiagnosis is not appropriate for the diagnosis of all parasitic infections of the CNS; in those cases, alternative diagnostic methods are presented, but not discussed in detail. In some instances potential new antigens or methods are presented, particularly if adoption of these methods is expected in the near future.
authors.affiliation: Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA. Electronic address: pwilkins@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Patricia P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Wilkins
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020807:Central Nervous System Parasitic Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007159:Immunologic Tests
keywords: ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay); Parasitic serology; antibody detection; antigen detection; eosinophilic meningitis; immunodiagnosis; immunology of parasitic infections; western blot