Pa. Zimmerman et al., POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION-BASED DIAGNOSIS OF ONCHOCERCA-VOLVULUS INFECTION - IMPROVED DETECTION OF PATIENTS WITH ONCHOCERCIASIS, The Journal of infectious diseases, 169(3), 1994, pp. 686-689
Definitive diagnosis of Onchocerca volvulus (Ov) infection requires th
e identification of the parasite in either the skin or subcutaneous no
dules. These parasitologic approaches suffer from poor sensitivity. To
assess the efficacy and utility of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-
based diagnosis for Ov infection, skin snips were examined from 94 per
sons in an Ov-endemic region of Ecuador, and results were compared in
a blinded fashion with those of a PCR assay based on the Onchocerca-sp
ecific repetitive DNA sequence, O-150. All 60 patients microfilaria-po
sitive on skin snip examination were positive in the PCR-based assay.
In addition, 13 of 34 who were microfilaria-negative by skin snips wer
e positive in the PCR assay. This suggests that the PCR-based assay is
significantly more sensitive than current methods and overcomes many
deficiencies of parasitologic and serologic methodologies in diagnosin
g active onchocerciasis.