title: Anti-Trichinella IgG in ethnic minorities living in Trichinella-endemic areas in northwest Vietnam: study of the predictive value of selected clinical signs and symptoms for the diagnosis of trichinellosis.
abstract: The objective of this study was to assess the presence of anti-Trichinella IgG in the serum of persons from ethnic minorities from northwest Vietnam with clinical signs and symptoms that are compatible with trichinellosis. A total of 645 persons were enrolled, of which 200 people lived in two villages where outbreaks of human trichinellosis had been documented in 2004 and 2008, and 445 people who were hospitalized in the Dien Bien and Son La provincial hospitals without a definitive diagnosis. Presence of anti-Trichinella IgG was demonstrated in serum samples by a standardized Enzyme-linked Immunosorbant Assay (ELISA); positive serum samples were subjected to Western blot (WB) for confirmation. Seven (3.5%; 95% CI: 1.4-7.1) persons from the villages and seven (1.6%; 95% CI: 0.6-3.2) hospitalized patients, tested positive by both ELISA and WB. Fever (N=13), eosinophilia (N=12), myalgia (N=9), facial edema (N=9) and leukocytosis (N=8) were the most common clinical signs and symptoms in the serologically positive persons. The concomitant occurrence of facial edema and myalgia among the enrolled persons from the villages, accounted for 75% of the positive predictive value (PPV) and 99.5% of the negative predictive value (NPV), suggesting that they could be used for suspecting trichinellosis when serology is not available. The high prevalence (1.6-3.5%) of anti-Trichinella IgG in persons from Vietnamese provinces where Trichinella spiralis is circulating in pigs strongly supports the need to develop control programs to eliminate the infection from pigs and for consumers' education and protection.
authors: Parasitology Section, National Centre for Veterinary Diagnosis, Hanoi, Vietnam; Laboratory of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors: Nga
authors: N
authors: Vu Thi
authors: Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immunomediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanita', Rome, Italy.
authors: Edoardo
authors: E
authors: Pozio
authors: Parasitology Department, Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam.
authors: Nguyen
authors: N
authors: Van De
authors: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors: Nicolas
authors: N
authors: Praet
authors: Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immunomediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanita', Rome, Italy.
authors: Patrizio
authors: P
authors: Pezzotti
authors: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors: Sarah
authors: S
authors: Gabriël
authors: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors: Marleen
authors: M
authors: Claes
authors: Parasitology Section, National Centre for Veterinary Diagnosis, Hanoi, Vietnam.
authors: Nguyen Thi
authors: NT
authors: Thuy
authors: Laboratory of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium; Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium. Electronic address: pdorny@itg.be.
authors: Pierre
authors: P
authors: Dorny
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D000909:Antibodies, Helminth / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D003296:Cooking; D004487:Edema / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat / Q000469:parasitology; D008875:Middle Aged; D008913:Minority Groups; D063806:Myalgia / Q000175:diagnosis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D034421:Sus scrofa / Q000469:parasitology; D014235:Trichinellosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology; D014744:Vietnam / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000909:Antibodies, Helminth; D007074:Immunoglobulin G
keywords: Facial edema; Human; Myalgia; Serology; Trichinellosis; Vietnam