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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, March 2001, p. 349-351, Vol. 8, No. 2
1071-412X/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.8.2.349-351.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Two Methods for Rapid Serological Diagnosis of Acute Leptospirosis

Paul N. Levett,1,2,* Songee L. Branch,2 Carol U. Whittington,2 Charles N. Edwards,1,3 and Helene Paxton4

School of Clinical Medicine & Research, University of the West Indies, Bridgetown,1 Leptospira Laboratory, Ministry of Health, St. Michael,2 and Department of Medicine, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Bridgetown,3 Barbados; and PanBio InDx Inc., Baltimore, Maryland4

Received 21 August 2000/Returned for modification 9 November 2000/Accepted 11 December 2000

Leptospirosis is a common and underdiagnosed zoonosis. Two rapid assays for serological diagnosis of acute leptospirosis in diagnostic laboratories, the immunoglobulin M (IgM)-dipstick assay and the indirect hemagglutination assay (IHA), were evaluated and compared with standard assays. Sera were examined from 104 patients admitted to a hospital for investigation in a leptospirosis diagnostic protocol. Specimens for serology were taken on days 1 and 4 of the patients' hospital stay. Antibodies were detected using an IgM-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), microscopic agglutination test (MAT), an IgM-dipstick assay, and an IHA. Fifty-one patients were found to have leptospirosis. The sensitivity of the IgM-dipstick assay was 98%, its specificity was 90.6%, its positive predictive value was 90.9%, and its negative predictive value was 98%. The sensitivity of the IHA was 92.2%, its specificity was 94.4%, its positive predictive value was 95.9%, and its negative predictive value was 92.7%. The standard IgM-ELISA and MAT, were positive in the first samples tested from 67 and 55% of the cases, respectively, and the rapid IgM-dipstick assay and IHA were positive in 71 and 49%, respectively, in the first sample tested. Both rapid assays are highly sensitive and specific. Neither requires specialized equipment, and both are suitable for use in diagnostic laboratories.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Leptospira Laboratory, Enmore #2, Lower Collymore Rock, St. Michael, Barbados. Phone: (246) 427-5586. Fax: (246) 429-6738. E-mail: levett{at}sunbeach.net.

Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, March 2001, p. 349-351, Vol. 8, No. 2
1071-412X/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.8.2.349-351.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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Copyright © 2001 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.