Angiostrongyliasis in the Americas

摘要

To the Editor: We read with spe-cial interest the article by Hochberg et al. about angiostrongyliasis in Hawaii (1). Angiostrongylus cantonensis men-ingitis in the Americas was reported by Aguiar et al. in Cuba in 1981 (2), and we have studied this zoonosis dur-ing the ensuing 25 years. We agree with the authors about the difficulty in obtaining a specific immunoassay for detection of antibodies to A. cantonen-sis antigens. In Cuba, as in Hawaii, no other cause of eosinophilic meningitis was identified. To improve accuracy of the diag-nosis we investigated immunoglobu-lin (Ig) E intrathecal synthesis during the first diagnostic lumbar puncture. We also confirmed this synthesis as ei-ther a 2-class response (IgG + IgA) or a 3-class response (IgG + IgA + IgM) that appeared 8 days later in cerebro-spinal fluid (3).