A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF A RAPID DIAGONOSTIC KIT WITH MSAT AND IgM ELISA IN THE DIAGONOSIS OF SYMPTOMATIC LEPTOSPIROSIS IN CHILDREN

BACKGROUND Leptospirosis is the most widespread zoonosis in the world with most prevalence in tropical, semitropical, and temperate regions and is usually endemic in humid warm areas. The disease is most common in adult men and women. The disease is also high in children in urban areas. The laboratory diagnosis of leptospirosis is fraught with several problems. Isolation of Leptospira is laborious, requires trained personnel, time consuming and has low sensitivity. Microscopic agglutination test (MAT) is a gold standard method but it requires trained personnel and darkfield microscope. AIM The study was undertaken to compare the efficiency of rapid diagnostic card test with MSAT (Macroscopic Slide Agglutination Test) and ELISA. Materials and Methods Blood samples were collected from 100 patients less than 15 years of age with clinical suspection of Leptospirosis attending the outpatient department and admitted as inpatients in Government General hospital Chennai. A total of 100 serum samples were tested by rapid card test, IgM ELISA and MSAT. Results Of the 100 cases studied, postivity rate was 15 for leptospira rapid card test, 24 for MSAT (Macroscopic Slide Agglutination Test), and 22 for IgM ELISA respectively. Conclusion Early diagnosis is the first basis element of the strategy to control the disease. Though Rapid Leptospira card test is simple and easy to perform, it has a low sensitivity and is not a suitable rapid screening test for diagnosis of leptospirosis. The results must be further confirmed by ELISA and MAT.