Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2016) 5(12): 195-202 195 Original Research Article http://dx.doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2016.512.021 Role of Serology in Diagnosis of Human Hydatidosis: Experience from a Tertiary Care Hospital Mridula Madiyal 1 *, Barnini Banerjee 1 , Anson Kunjumon George 1 , Vandana Kalwaje Eshwara 1 , S.S. Prasad 1 and Kiran Chawla 2 1 Department of Microbiology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Manipal University, India 2 Department of Surgery, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Manipal, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Hydatid disease, caused by larval stage of Echinococcus granulosus is a commonly seen parasitic zoonosis in Mediterranean countries, Eastern Europe, North and East Africa, Central Asia, Australia and South America (Grosso et al., 2012). In India, the International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 5 Number 12 (2016) pp. 195-202 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com Hydatid disease is an important emerging neglected disease worldwide, with significant geographic variation in seroprevalance. The disease is commonly diagnosed on basis of clinical suspicion, imaging and serology. This study was conducted to evaluate our experience with serology in diagnosing hydatid disease in terms of identifying the numbers of patients testing positive for antibodies against Echinococcus, and to study their clinical profile. This retrospective study included all patients who tested for anti-Echinococcus IgG antibodies by ELISA in the years 2014-2015. The clinical characteristics of seropositive patients were contrasted with seronegative patients, and the test results were correlated with radiological findings and, where performed, with histopathological studies. Analysis was performed on SPSS (IBM, Inc). Chi-square test was used to statistically compare between patient groups. Out of 54 patients evaluated by serology for Echinococcosis during the study period, Fourteen (26%) were seropositive. The two groups were comparable with respect to age, gender and most hematological parameters, excepting eosinophilia, which was more frequent among seropositive patients (28.6% vs. 2.5%; p=0.01). Alkaline phosphatase also tended to be higher among seropositives (42.9% vs 20%; p=0.09). Liver was the most frequent site involved (12 patients; 86%). Of the 29 patients who also underwent biopsy, all the seven patients with positive biopsy were seropositive, suggesting 100% sensitivity. The specificity was 81.8%, but this might be a lower estimate due to potentially high rate of false-negative biopsies, as all the seropositive patients also had imaging features suggestive of disease. The positive and negative predictive values were 63.6% and 100%, respectively. ELISA for detection of anti-Echinococcus antibodies is a simple serological test that helps in correlation with imaging finding in the diagnosis and subsequent management of hydatid disease. Keywords Cystic Echinococcosis, Echinococcus granulosus, Hydatid disease, Seropositivity, Parasitic zoonoses. Accepted: 12 November 2016 Available Online: 10 December 2016 Article Info