A comparison between a new serological method, thin layer immunoassay (TIA), and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of antibodies in schistosomiasis.

A comparison has been made of a new serological method, thin layer immunoassay (TIA), and an established method, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), in the detection and quantification of antibodies in schistosomiasis. Using sera from known S. haematobium and S. mansoni cases, the performance of the two tests was almost identical; 95.6% positive for TIA and 96.4% by ELISA. TIA however produced a small number of false positives with sera from other helminth infections whereas ELISA gave none. There was excellent correlation between the tests in the quantification of anti-S. haematobium antibodies, both in human cases and in infected baboons. TIA has the advantage of being extremely simple to perform, but has the disadvantage of requiring a higher concentration of antigens.