Comparison between latex and microscopic agglutination test for detection of human leptospiral antibodies

Abstract

Leptospirosis, notably Weil's syndrome, is an often severe, acute febrile illness caused by microorganisms of the genus Leptospira. The microscopic agglutination test (MAT) is the basic method for the sero-diagnosis of leptospirosis, as the test has a high sensitivity and can be used for classification, but has some disadvantages. Therefore, we have explored latex agglutination test (LAT) for use as a practical and rapid for sero-diagnosis of human leptospirosis and compared the applicability of commercial tests MAT and LAT in the detection of specific antibodies against Leptospira interrogans in human.