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- Title
Noninvasive management of Indian visceral leishmaniasis: clinical application of diagnosis by K39 antigen strip testing at a kala-azar referral unit.
- Authors
Sundar, S; Sahu, M; Mehta, H; Gupta, A; Kohli, U; Rai, M; Berman, J D; Murray, H W
- Abstract
Firm diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (kala-azar) requires organ aspiration and microscopic examination of tissue specimens. To determine the usefulness of noninvasive diagnosis by strip test detection of anti-K39 immunoglobulin (Ig) G antibody in blood specimens obtained by fingerstick, 143 Indian patients with suspected kala-azar (fever, splenomegaly, anemia) were studied. Of 120 strip test-positive subjects (subjects with presumed kala-azar [group A]), amphotericin B treatment induced clinical cure in 119. Of 23 strip test-negative subjects (subjects presumed to have other diseases [group B]), 16 had other disorders diagnosed at entry, 4 responded to empiric antimalarial therapy, 2 were proven to have kala-azar, and 1 died elsewhere after undergoing splenic aspiration. Six months after treatment ended, all 120 patients in group A and the 18 assessable patients in group B were healthy. In a region in India where visceral infection is prevalent, strip test detection of anti-K39 IgG is a clinically promising diagnostic guide in persons with suspected kala-azar.
- Publication
Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2002, Vol 35, Issue 5, p581
- ISSN
1537-6591
- Publication type
Journal Article
- DOI
10.1086/342057