Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Detecting Coccidioides antigen in dogs with Valley fever
By Kirsch, Emily J et al.·Published in Clinical and vaccine immunology : CVI·2012·MiraVista Diagnostics, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Evaluation of Coccidioides antigen detection in dogs with coccidioidomycosis.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 60 dogs diagnosed with coccidioidomycosis (a fungal infection) were tested for a specific Coccidioides antigen in their urine and serum to see if it could help with diagnosis. The results showed that only 20% of the dogs had the antigen detected, which means this method isn't very reliable for diagnosing the infection. Most diagnoses were based on the presence of antibodies instead. While some dogs did show the antigen in their samples, it was not a dependable method compared to antibody testing.
People also search for: dog coccidioidomycosis symptoms · coccidioidomycosis treatment for dogs · dog fungal infection diagnosis
Abstract
Antigen detection has been reported to be a promising method for rapid diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis in humans. Coccidioides antigen detection has not been previously reported in dogs with coccidioidomycosis and was evaluated in 60 cases diagnosed based on detection of anti-Coccidioides antibodies at titers of 1:16 or more in serum. Controls included dogs with presumed histoplasmosis or blastomycosis, other fungal infections, or nonfungal diseases and healthy dogs. Urine and serum specimens were tested using an enzyme immunoassay for Coccidioides galactomannan antigen. Antibody testing was performed at commercial veterinary reference laboratories. Antigen was detected in urine or serum of 12 of 60 (20.0%), urine only in 2 of 57 (3.5%), and serum only in 11 of 58 (19.0%) dogs with coccidioidomycosis. Antigen was detected in the urine of 3 of 43 (7.0%) and serum of 1 of 37 (2.7%) dogs with histoplasmosis or blastomycosis but not in 13 dogs with other fungal infections (serum, 9; urine, 13), 41 dogs with nonfungal diseases (urine, 41; serum, 18), or healthy dogs (serum, 21; urine, 21). Detection of antigen was an insensitive method for diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis in dogs in which the diagnosis was based primarily upon detection of antibodies at titers of 1:16 or higher, and the highest sensitivity was in serum.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22278324/