The intradermal reaction in amebiasis.

Studies on the amebiasis skin test were carried out in Amerindians living on reserves of Northern Saskatchewan. Results indicate the skin test to be highly sensitive in patients with acute amebic dysentery and in individuals with a history of amebic disease. A high percentage of asymptomatic school children living on a reserve where amebic disease is of common occurrence were also skin reactors. In a similar group of school children living on a reserve where amebic disease had never been reported but where E. histolytica infection rates are high there were very few reactors. A control group of white adults living in a non-endemic area were uniformly negative to the skin test. A comparison with the indirect hemagglutination test showed a good general correlation, but the skin test proved to be more accurate in cases of acute amebic dysentery in children 5 years of age or under. The skin test appears to have potential as a diagnostic technique and may be of considerable value in defining endemic areas of amebic disease.