In the present study, we tried to compare the sensitivity and the specificity
of the rK39 strips and DAT, to serodiagnose the visceral leishmaniasis disease
in some endemic villages in south of Syria, in order to apply the best and the
easy test i
n the epidemiological studies, for serodiagnosis this disease not only in
symptomatic patients but also in asymptomatic and suspected cases in order to
treat them early and rapidly.
The diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) remains problematic for
physicians in Syria, because the appearance of this disease is new and its
clinical criteria are similar to Malaria, Tuberculosis, and Toxoplasmosis
symptoms. For this reason, we
used the specific antigen (rK39) of
Leishmania donovani complex, in order to certify the appearance of
visceral leishmaniasis in some patients. Then we followed the infected
cases with VL during treatment (15 days) and after treatment (10 days)
with Glucantime®. We noted an improvement in clinical criteria and a
significant decrease in the parasite numbers as well as in the specific L.
donovani antibodies.
