AJTMH ASTMH Job Mart
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 79(1), 2008, pp. 76-78
Copyright © 2008 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Mandal, J.
Right arrow Articles by Malla, N.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Mandal, J.
Right arrow Articles by Malla, N.
Related Collections
Right arrow Diagnosis
Right arrow Leishmaniasis

SHORT REPORT


Evaluation of Direct Agglutination Test, rk39 Test, and ELISA for the Diagnosis of Visceral Leishmaniasis

Jharna Mandal, Sumeeta Khurana, M. L. Dubey, Prateek Bhatia, Neelam Varma, AND Nancy Malla*
Department of Parasitology and Department of Haematology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India

 

ABSTRACT

The study reports an evaluation of the direct agglutination test (DAT) with use of promastigote/amastigote antigen, rk39 strip test, and ELISA for diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Out of 94 clinically suspected VL patients, 16 (17%) were seropositive by all the techniques; in addition, 6 were positive in rk39 strip test and ELISA. On retrospective analysis, out of 16 positive by all the techniques, 11 (69%) had demonstrable Leishmania donovani (LD) bodies in their bone marrow samples, while in 5 bone marrow was not examined. Out of 6 that were positive by ELISA and rk39 strip test, 2 had myelofibrosis and 4 had chronic myeloid leukemia. On the basis of bone marrow aspirate positivity, the sensitivity and specificity of DAT were 100% while those of rk39 strip test and ELISA were 100% and 87%, respectively. The study suggests that DAT appears to be the best technique for the serodiagnosis of VL.

Received December 17, 2007. Accepted for publication March 18, 2008.

Acknowledgments: The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) assisted with publication expenses.

* Address correspondence to Nancy Malla, Professor and Head, Department of Parasitology, PGIMER, Chandigarh 160012, India. E-mail: drnancymalla{at}yahoo.com

Authors’ addresses: Jharna Mandal, Sumeeta Khurana, M. L. Dubey, and Nancy Malla, Department of Parasitology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh 160012, India, Tel: 91-0172-2755169, Fax: 91-0172-2744401, E-mail: drnancymalla{at}yahoo.com. Prateek Bhatia and Neelam Varma, Department of Haematology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh 160012, India.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2008 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.