COMPLEMENT-FIXATION TEST IN ECHINOCOCCUS DISEASE 525 



coides. 1 Weinberg, 2 Jiani, 3 Israel, 4 and Henius 5 report favorable and 

 specific reactions in echinococcus disease with aqueous or alcoholic 

 extracts of cyst fluid, or both. Kurt Meyer 6 found these reactions non- 

 specific, in that the serum of a person infested with echinococcus showed 

 complement-absorption with antigens of Taenia solium and T. saginata, 

 and vice versa. Branes 7 found that alcoholic extracts of echinococcus 

 cyst fluid showed complement-absorption with the syphilis antibody 

 as well as with that of echinococcus disease, and this observation has 

 been generally confirmed. Thomsen and Magnusson 8 in a study of 12 

 cases of echinococcus disease found that the sera of 10 reacted positively; 

 the sera of 55 control cases (32 of which reacted positively to the Wasser- 

 mann reaction) all were negative except one. These authors also report 

 favorably on the specificity of the reaction: the sera of 10 persons in- 

 fected with Tsenia saginata, of 2 with T. solium, and of 1 with Bothrio- 

 cephalus latus, all were negative with echinococcus antigen. 



In so far as echinococcus disease of the liver is concerned, a review 

 of the literature shows a general consensus of opinion that antibodies 

 are present in the sera of the majority of diseased persons and animals 

 and that these may be detected by means of a complement-fixation test. 

 There is, however, a division of opinion in regard to the specificity of 

 the reaction and its practical value in diagnosis. 



Much less work has been reported on complement fixation with sera 

 of persons infested with such parasites as Tsenia saginata, Ascaris 

 lumbricoides, etc. Miss Trist and I 9 have observed positive reactions 

 with sera of dogs infested with various parasites and salt solution 

 extracts of the respective worms. The method is worthy of trial in 

 the diagnosis of infestments of persons with the various intestinal 

 parasites. 



The antigen is best prepared of the fresh fluid of an echinococcus 

 cyst of man or sheep. It should be filtered, if necessary, preserved with 



1 Gaz. degli Ospedali e delle Cliniche, 1907,' 28, p. 476. 



2 Ann. de 1'Inst. Pasteur, 1909, 23, p. 472 (in which references are given to his 

 previous work in this field). 



3 Wien. klin. Wchnschr., 1909, 22, p. 1439 (in which the author gives a good bib- 

 liography of earlier literature). 



4 Ztschr. f. Hyg. u. Infektionskrankh., 1910, 66, p. 487. 



5 Deutsch. med. Wchnschr., 1911, 37, p. 1212. 



6 Berl. klin. Wchnschr., 1910, 47, p. 1316. 



7 Munchen. med. Wchnschr., 1911, 58, p. 1073. 



8 Berl. klin. Wchnschr., 1912, 49, p. 1183. 



9 Jour. Infect. Dis., 1916, 18, 88. 



