Serodiagnosis of Leishmania donovani induced cutaneous leishmaniasis: A method comparison study

Abstract

Introduction: Sri Lanka reports a large focus of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). CL is not known to exert a high humoral response. However, we detected a high seroprevalence for CL in Sri Lanka and developed a cost-effective in-house ELISA assay that has been described previously. This assay is important to detect microscopy negative patients prior to conducting second line investigations and to detect pre-clinical infections in the field. The aim of the current study was to compare the local assay with other known assays. Methods: Study samples (n=100) were collected randomly from patients with laboratory confirmed CL. Control samples (n=25) were collected through field visits to disease endemic and non-endemic areas. In-house ELISA, DAT, Indian dipstick test and rK39 strip test were carried out on all study samples. The specificity and sensitivity were analysed. The cost analysis was also done per patient.