Sensitivity and specificity of the Leishmania OligoC-TesT and NASBA-oligochromatography for diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis in Kenya.

OBJECTIVE To estimate the sensitivity and specificity of the OligoC-TesT and nucleic acid sequence-based amplification coupled to oligochromatography (NASBA-OC) for molecular detection of Leishmania in blood from patients with confirmed visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and healthy endemic controls from Kenya. METHODS Blood specimens of 84 patients with confirmed VL and 98 endemic healthy controls from Baringo district in Kenya were submitted to both assays. RESULTS The Leishmania OligoC-TesT showed a sensitivity of 96.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 90-98.8%) and a specificity of 88.8% (95% CI: 81-93.6%), while the sensitivity and specificity of the NASBA-OC were 79.8% (95% CI: 67-87%) and 100% (95% CI: 96.3-100%), respectively. CONCLUSION Our findings indicate high sensitivity of the Leishmania OligoC-TesT on blood while the NASBA-OC is a better marker for active disease.