Latex based, rapid and easy assay for human leptospirosis in a single test format

Trop Med Int Health. 2001 Feb;6(2):114-8. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-3156.2001.00675.x.

Abstract

Leptospirosis is an often severe disease which requires prompt treatment. Laboratory testing is required to reach a valid diagnosis. An agglutination assay for the detection of Leptospira-specific antibodies consisting of individually wrapped agglutination cards containing a stable, dried detection reagent is evaluated. The assay is simply performed by suspending the dried reagent with a drop of serum. The result is obtained within 30 s. The sensitivity of the assay varied with the stage of the disease and was 72.3% for samples collected during the first 10 days of the illness and 88.2% for samples collected at a later stage. The specificity was 93.9% and 89.8%, respectively. These characteristics make the test ideal for use in areas where the disease is common and where laboratory support is not routinely available.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Evaluation Study
  • Multicenter Study

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies, Bacterial / blood*
  • Antigens, Bacterial
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulin M / blood
  • Latex Fixation Tests / methods*
  • Leptospira / immunology*
  • Leptospirosis / blood
  • Leptospirosis / diagnosis*
  • Leptospirosis / immunology
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Antibodies, Bacterial
  • Antigens, Bacterial
  • Immunoglobulin M