Validity of Lateral Flow Immunochromatographic-Assays (LFIA) in diagnosis of leptospirosis

Leptospirosis is an important public health problem in Sri Lanka. Clinically relevant rapid diagnostic tests are a high priority but they are not freely available for routine diagnosis of leptospirosis in Sri Lanka [1]. Previously, we evaluated commercially available ELISA kits for rapid diagnosis, which showed poor sensitivity and specificity [2]. Rapid diagnostic tests such as Leptocheck based on immunochromatography methods were previously evaluated in Sri Lanka with promising results [3]. One of the limitations in the evaluation of Leptocheck was that it was based on locally available microscopic agglutination test (MAT) with limited serovars, and not the standard MAT with broad panel of serovars. Purpose of the present study was to evaluate the validity and utility of a commercially available lateral flow immunochromatographic assay (LFIA) method for diagnosis of leptospirosis in Sri Lanka with standard MAT as the comparison.