TAENIA-SOLIUM CYSTICERCOSIS - AN UNDER-RECOGNIZED BUT SERIOUS PUBLIC-HEALTH PROBLEM

The true impact and scope of the disease cysticercosis have been obscured by the lack of sensitive and specific diagnostic tools for the collection of reliable epidemiological data. Diagnosis has hitherto been dependent on clinical observations, radiologic imaging, and serologic assays that employ crude, non-specific antigens. These methods suffer from high cost and inaccessibility, and lock reliability. Development of the cysticercosis-specific glycoprotein antigens and their use in immunoblot have given us a diagnostic tool with high sensitivity and exquisite specificity. As discussed here by Victor Tsang and Marianna Wilson, use of this assay in recent epidemiologic studies has demonstrated the serious impact of cysticercosis to public health and the economy of the Pork industry.