BACKGROUND Antibody-detecting rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) against rK39 are available to aid in the diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Although these rK39 RDTs have been developed, validated and approved for use with serum, they are universally performed using whole blood. It was therefore necessary to determine whether this RDT is as sensitive on whole blood as on serum. METHOD AND P...

We compared an rK39 dipstick rapid test (Amrad ICT, Australia) with a direct agglutination test (DAT) and splenic aspirate for the diagnosis of kala-azar in 77 patients. The study was carried out under field conditions in an endemic area of north-east Sudan. The sensitivity of the rK39 test compared with splenic aspiration was 92% (46/50), the specificity 59% (16/27), and the positive predictiv...

The rK39 test is a serologic assay for the rapid diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Serum from a North American cohort of 59 otherwise asymptomatic soldiers with cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) was tested with the rK39 dipstick and ELISA assays, and 10.2% and 28.8% had positive results, respectively. CL is associated with a reactive rK39 assay result in some patients without clinical eviden...

The diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis remains difficult in rural areas where the disease is endemic, and serologic methods still need assessment, as they are not very sensitive for the detection of asymptomatic infectious dogs. Here we present data on the development of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based methods for the detection of antibodies against recombinant leishmanial anti...

INTRODUCTION Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) may improve the early detection of visceral leishmaniasis (VL), but their real-world performance requires additional study. Therefore, we evaluated the performance of an rK39-based RDT (Kalazar Detect™) for the detection of VL in an endemic, large urban area. METHODS Data were collected from a registry of rK39 RDT performed at 11 emergency care units...

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the serological methods using ELISA with recombinant-rK39 (ELISA-rK-39) and soluble extract-SE (ELISA-SE) antigens, the indirect fluorescence antibody test (IFAT) in comparison to an immunochromatography rapid diagnostic test (RDT-rK39) and with a direct parasitological exam (PA) for Canine Visceral Leishmaniasis (CVL) diagnosis. The results showed t...

Quantitative computerized Western blot analysis of antibody responses during experimental canine Leishmania infantum infection distinguished between immunodominant and nonimmunodominant protein bands. Six infected beagles, positive by both PCR and parasite culture, were monitored over 75 weeks postinfection and during a 12-week allopurinol treatment course. All dogs were symptomatic at the time...

We evaluated the field use of two serologic tests for visceral leishmaniasis (VL), the direct agglutination test (DAT) and rK39 dipstick test, in the context of a case-control study. Most VL cases in Nepal are currently diagnosed on clinical grounds and with relatively non-specific tests such as the formol-gel test. Among 14 newly diagnosed VL patients with bone-marrow slides confirmed positive...

Objective: The diagnostic role of rK39 enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was compared with the buffy-coat Leishmania nested polymerase chain reaction (Ln-PCR) for kala-azar in an endemic zone of Bangladesh. Methodology: This evaluation study included 100 cases comprising of 60 clinically suspected patients of kala-azar and 40 healthy controls. Anti-rK39 antibody was estimated in plasma ...