COMPARISON OF HUMAN TRICHINOSIS CAUSED BY TRICHINELLA-SPIRALIS AND BYTRICHINELLA-BRITOVI

The first documented report of an outbreak of human trichinellosis cau sed by Trichinella spiralis in Italy is described. Two family groups w ere involved. The source was wild boar meat products. The principal cl inical features were fever (60%), myalgia (50%), and diarrhea (40%). T he most useful laboratory indicators were eosinophilia (100%), elevate d levels of creatine phosphokinase (CPK) (90%) and other muscle enzyme s, parasite-specific IgG titers (100%), and anti-newborn larvae antibo dies (30%). The levels of these responses correlated with the number o f infective muscle larvae ingested, which was influenced by the length of time the ingested meat was cured. The clinical and biological feat ures observed during human infection with T. spiralis appear to have b een different from those reported during two outbreaks due to T. brito vi, which occurred in southern Italy. The main distinctions between th e two types of infections were a longer duration of parasite-specific IgG, increased CPK levels, and a more severe intestinal symptomatology in T. spiralis-infected patients than in those infected with T. brito vi.