Field evaluation of latex agglutination test for detecting urinary antigens in visceral leishmaniasis in Sudan

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Abstract
A latex agglutination test to detect urinary antigens for visceral leishmaniasis [VL] was studied. In 204 patients with suspected VL, KAtex had a sensitivity of 95.2% with good agreement with microscopy smears but poor agreement with 4 different serology tests. It was also positive in 2 confirmed VL cases co-infected with HIV. In all KAtex-positive confirmed cases actively followed up after treatment, the test became negative 1 month after completion of treatment. While KAtex had a specificity of 100% in healthy endemic and non-endemic controls, the direct agglutination test [DAT] was positive in 14% of the KAtex-negative healthy endemic controls. KAtex is a simple addition to the diagnostics of VL particularly at field level and as a complementary test for the diagnosis of VL in smear-negative cases with positive DAT resultsCitation
El Safi, S.H., Abdel Haleem, A., Hammad, A., El Basha, I., Omer, A. et al. (2003). Field evaluation of latex agglutination test for detecting urinary antigens in visceral leishmaniasis in Sudan. EMHJ - Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 9 (4), 844-855, 2003 https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/119338