The Estimation of IgM Immunoglobulin in Dried Blood, For Use as a Screening Test in the Diagnosis of Human Trypanosomiasis In Africa

Abstract

Mattern (1964) has shown that in human trypanosomiasis caused by Trypanosoma gambiense, the serum IgM immunoglobulin level is consistently raised, and this was confirmed by LUMSDEN (1965) for infection with T. rhodesiense. Although these authors showed that increased levels of serum IgM are not pathognomonic for trypanosomiasis, the observation that low levels virtually exclude the possibility of trypanosome infection is obviously relevant to the development of a screening test for diagnosis.