Cell-mediated immunoreactivity in acute human trichinellosis.

Twenty patients were examined for studying specific cellular immunoreactivity in human trichinellosis. Serial leukocyte migration inhibition tests were carried out using trichinella larvae as antigen. The mean migration indices of the patients differed significantly from that of the healthy controls. As the most distinct immunoreactivity was found during the acute phase of the disease, it is suggested that the cellular immune response may be of some importance in the development of symptoms. It is, however, stressed that the diagnostic value of the LMI method is less than that of the serological tests in individual cases.