Updating of medical pathology procedures concerning the diagnosis of trichinellosis - INAHTA Brief

Trichinellosis is a cosmopolitan zoonosis transmitted by eating raw meat contaminated with a nematode of the genus Trichinella. Between 2001 and 2003 in France, there were approximately ten confirmed cases. In humans, trichinellosis occurs in the form of small sporadic epidemics.

Human trichinellosis generally starts with diarrhoea and high fever, facial oedema and myalgia. Depending on the occurrence of neurological or cardiac complications, the prognosis may be dramatic. Depending on the extent of contamination, human trichinellosis may go unnoticed, be limited to palpebral oedema, or be fatal following allergic shock.

Biological diagnosis relies on serology and possibly muscle biopsy.

The aim of this work is to draw up the list of serological diagnostic techniques currently relevant to the diagnosis of trichinellosis.