Evaluation of the Standard Diagnostics Leptospira IgM ELISA for diagnosis of acute leptospirosis in Lao PDR

Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2012 Sep;106(9):563-6. doi: 10.1016/j.trstmh.2012.06.002. Epub 2012 Jul 19.

Abstract

The diagnostic utility of the Standard Diagnostics Leptospira IgM ELISA for detection of acute leptospirosis was assessed in febrile adults admitted in Vientiane, Laos. Using the cut-off suggested by the manufacturer [optical density (OD) ≥0.75], the assay demonstrated limited diagnostic capacity with a sensitivity of 95% and a specificity of 41% compared with the Leptospira microscopic agglutination test, which is the serological gold standard. However, re-evaluation of the diagnostic cut-off to an OD of 1.7 demonstrated improved diagnostic accuracy overall (sensitivity 70%; specificity 78%).

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Agglutination Tests*
  • Antibodies, Bacterial
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay*
  • Fever / epidemiology
  • Fever / microbiology*
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulin M
  • Laos / epidemiology
  • Leptospira / immunology
  • Leptospira / isolation & purification*
  • Leptospirosis / diagnosis*
  • Leptospirosis / epidemiology
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity

Substances

  • Antibodies, Bacterial
  • Immunoglobulin M