[Antibodies and immunoglobulin levels in sera from patients with African paragonimiasis (author's transl)].

96% of the P. uterobilateralis patients and 86.5% of the P. africanus patients showed a positive reaction with the homologous antigen in the passive haemagglutination test (PA). Common antigens of the two species were demonstrated by cross reactions. About 75% of the Paragonimus sera reacted also with the heterologous antigen with titres greater than or equal to 1:160. The PA test can be useful in the evaluation of the efficacy of treatment and is well suited for seroepidemiologic purposes. The complement fixation (CF) test was not suitable for serodiagnostic or seroepidemiologic studies nor for the assessment of the cure of African Paragonimiasis since antibodies persisted for at least one year after treatment. Comparative studies on levels of IgA, IgE, IgG and IgM seems to be of no diagnostic value in African paragonimiasis because no significant correlation between immunoglobulin concentration and paragonimiasis could be recognized. Very high IgE levels--up to 100 times higher than in Europeans--were found in nearly all sera. Shipment of filter papers blood specimens collected from P. africanus patient resulted in a significant decrease of antibody reactivity in all sera, the loss being about 30% in the parasitologically proven patients.