A skin test that detects dermal hypersensitivity in persons with past infection with Coccidioides species is again available for clinical use. Nearly all of the clinical studies with similar materials were published prior to the 1990s, and as a result, many practicing physicians will be unfamiliar with how skin testing for coccidioidomycosis might be useful in patient management or as a research tool. We review clinical and epidemiological studies with past skin test antigens, the composition of past and current skin test preparations with particular attention to differences in the preservatives, and how the current preparation could be used today.
Keywords: cellular immunity; coccidioidomycosis; delayed type hypersensitivity; diagnostic test; skin test.
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2015. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.