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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 81(4), 2009, pp. 695-697
doi:10.4269/ajtmh.2009.09-0252;
Copyright © 2009 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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SHORT REPORT


The Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT) Is an Unreliable Predictor of Infecting Leptospira Serovar in Thailand

Lee D. Smythe, Vanaporn Wuthiekanun*, Wirongrong Chierakul, Yupin Suputtamongkol, Surapee Tiengrim, Michael F. Dohnt, Meegan L. Symonds, Andrew T. Slack, Apichat Apiwattanaporn, Sunee Chueasuwanchai, Nicholas P. Day, AND Sharon J. Peacock
WHO/FAO/OIE Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Leptospirosis, Western Pacific Region, Communicable Disease Unit, Queensland Health Scientific Services, Brisbane, Australia; Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand; Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand; Medical Department, Udon Thani Reginal Hospital, Udon Thani, Thailand

 

ABSTRACT

A prospective study in Thailand identified 106 patients with culture-proven leptospirosis. The accuracy of the microscopic agglutination test (MAT) in predicting the infecting serovar was evaluated in 78/106 (74%) patients with a diagnostic titer. MAT correctly determined the infecting serovar in 26 cases (33%), indicating that this assay is a poor predictor of infecting serovar in our setting.

Received May 9, 2009. Accepted for publication June 25, 2009.

Acknowledgments: The authors thank the director and staff of the Medical Department of Udon Thani Hospital (Udon Thani Province, Thailand),Maharaj Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital (Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand), Loei Hospital (Loei Province, Thailand), Banmai Chaiyapod Hospital (Bureerum Province, Thailand), Maha Sarakham Hospital (Maha Sarakham Province, Thailand), and Yasothon Hospital (Yasothon Province, Thailand) for cooperation and Amornwadee Sungkakam, Premjit Amornchai, and Sayan Langla (Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University) for technical assistance.

Financial support: This study was funded by the Wellcome Trust.

* Address correspondence to Vanaporn Wuthiekanun, Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, 420/6 Rajvithi Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand. E-mail: lek{at}tropmedres.ac

Authors’ addresses: Lee D. Smythe, Michael F. Dohnt, Meegan L. Symonds, and Andrew T. Slack, WHO/FAO/OIE Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Leptospirosis, Western Pacific Region, Centre for Public Health Sciences, Queensland Health Scientific Services, Brisbane, Australia. Vanaporn Wuthiekanun, Wirongrong Chierakul, Sunee Chueasuwanchai, Nicholas P. Day, and Sharon J. Peacock, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, 420/6 Rajvithi Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand. Yupin Suputtamongkol and Surapee Tiengrim, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. Apichat Apiwattanaporn, Medical Department, Udon Thani General Hospital, Udon Thani, Thailand.

Reprint requests: Vanaporn Wuthiekanun, Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, 420/6 Rajvithi Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand, E-mail: lek{at}tropmedres.ac.






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Copyright © 2009 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.