The list of medical tests mentioned in various sources as used in the diagnosis of Trichinosis includes:
A blood test or muscle biopsy can show if you have trichinosis. (Source: excerpt from Trichinosis: DPD)
Although a doctor may suspect that a patient has trichinosis on the basis of clinical signs, it is usually diagnosed as the result of: 1) a blood test that shows an increase in the number of eosinophils, a type of white blood cell; or 2) microscopic examination of muscle tissue to look for the larvae. (Source: excerpt from Parasitic Roundworm Diseases, NIAID Fact Sheet: NIAID)
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CONFIRMING DIAGNOSIS Identification of hookworm ova in the stool confirms the diagnosis. Anemia suggests severe chronic infection.
Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005
A history of ingestion of raw or improperly cooked pork or pork products, with typical clinical features, suggests trichinosis, but infection may be difficult to prove. Stools may contain mature worms and larvae during the invasion stage. Skeletal muscle biopsies can show encysted larvae 10 days after ingestion; if available, analyses of contaminated meat also show larvae.
Skin testing may show a positive histamine-like reactivity 15 minutes after intradermal injection of the antigen (within 17 to 20 days after ingestion). However, such a result may remain positive for up to 5 years after exposure. Elevated acute and convalescent antibody titers (determined by flocculation tests 3 to 4 weeks after infection) confirm this diagnosis.
Other abnormal results include elevated aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, creatine kinase, and lactate dehydrogenase levels during the acute stages and an elevated eosinophil count (up to 15,000/µl). A normal or increased cerebrospinal fluid lymphocyte level (to 300/µl) and increased protein levels indicate CNS involvement.
Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005
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