Complement Fixation in Kala-Azar with the WKK Antigen

In our present issue we publish two articles in which the value of a complement-fixation test in early diagnosis of kala-azar is stressed. The antigen used is that of Witebsky, Klingenstein and Kuhn prepared from the tubercle bacillus, and originally intended for complement-fixation tests in tuberculosis. In tuberculosis, however, the results are very poor. Work in South America, however, revealed other possible uses of the antigen. Bier (1936) studying the use of antigen in leprosy, included some cases^ of leishmaniasis as controls, and reported 75 per cent positive results in leishmaniasis. In 1938, Lowe and Greval in India confirmed this, recording positive results in all 17 cases of kala-