Assessment of the direct agglutination test, fast agglutination screening test, and rK39 dipstick test for the sero-diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis in Syria.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the performances of 3 serological assays (direct agglutination test [DAT], fast agglutination screening test [FAST], recombinant protein [rK39] dipstick) test for use in primary care, for the diagnosis visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Syria. METHODS We utilized 267 serum samples obtained during 2007 from patient groups confirmed and suspected VL, confirmed cutaneous leishmaniasis, toxoplasmosis from endemic areas in Syria and control samples, and applied the 3 serological tests in the Damascus University, Damascus and Health laboratories at the same time, on these samples. RESULTS Our data show that the tests were very sensitive, where the DAT was the most specific followed by FAST, then rK39 dipstick. CONCLUSIONS Our study confirmed that all the tests performed well, and proved to be very important sero-diagnosis tools for visceral leishmaniasis.