Abstract

ODDONE, R et al. Tegumentary leishmaniasis: sensitivity of the indirect immunofluorescent assay in patients with parasitological diagnosis. Mem. Inst. Investig. Cienc. Salud [online]. 2005, vol.3, n.1, pp.15-18. ISSN 1812-9528.

Tegumentary leishmaniasis is an endemic zoonosis of tropical and subtropical areas of the world. Diagnosis of this illness is difficult even using laboratorial methods. In endemics areas a presumptive diagnosis is carried out based on the clinical presentation and reactivity to the skin test. However, a definitive diagnosis of the illness requires the combination of different methods, such as the indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFI), one of the most used methods. In order to determine the sensitivity of the IFI, a total of 95 patients with proven lesions of leishmaniasis were subjected to skin test, histopathology, culture and IFI. Parasitological diagnosis was achieved in 80 patients through histopathology and/or culture. Fifty-eight samples of them (72.5%) gave positive reaction by the IFI although 12 of them (21%) also showed positive serology for Chagas disease. The sensitivity of the IFI for mucosal leishmaniasis only was 81.3% (n=16). We concluded that IFI has moderate sensitivity for the diagnosis of tegumentary leishmaniasis.

Keywords : Tegumentary leishmaniasis; Indirect immunofluorescent assay; Diagnosis; Sensitivity.

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