Comparison of the analytic sensitivities of a recombinant immunoblot assay and the radioimmune precipitation assay for the detection of antibodies to Trypanosoma cruzi in patients with Chagas disease.

The diagnosis of chronic Chagas disease usually is made by detecting antibodies to Trypanosoma cruzi, the protozoan parasite that causes this illness. A highly sensitive and specific immunoblot assay developed by us showed a higher analytic sensitivity than the radioimmune precipitation assay, which is used widely as a confirmatory test.