[Immunological diagnosis of filariosis in persons returning from tropical countries and in European and indigenous inhabitants of endemic areas (author's transl)].

Serum samples from persons who lived in areas where onchocerciasis occurred or who had filariasis were examined with the complement fixation test and the indirect hemagglutination test for the presence of antibodies against crude extracts from Dirofilaria immitis, Onchocerca volvulus, Dipetalonema viteae, and Ascaris suum. The results could be interpreted as follows: 1. The indirect hemagglutination test was more sensitive than the complement fixation test for the demonstration of antibodies in sera from European and indigenous inhabitants of endemic areas. 2. There were no differences between the responses to the four crude worm extracts among the groups of 21 patients with Loa loa, 12 patients with Onchocerca volvulus, 11 patients with Dipetalonema perstans, and 22 patients with clinical filariasis in whom no microfilaria had been found. It was concluded that the examination with crude extracts cannot give any information about the antigens that had caused the stimulation of antibodies.