Comparison of IFAT, rk39 and PCR for diagnosis of kala-azar in Iraqi children

Abstract

A comparative study was carried out through IFAT, rk39 and PCR diagnostic methods for detection of pediatric visceral leishmaniasis (Kala-azar) in Baghdad hospitals during the period from July 2013 to September 2014. Blood samples from 178 suspected VL patients were examined by IFAT, rk39 and PCR. Results of polymerase chain reaction which depending on highly repetitive sequence regions, reported that only 39 (21.9%) of samples were positive to visceral leishmaniasis and 139 (79.1%) were negative. So that these results were considered as standard test for IFAT and rk39 test, for that the validity of IFAT according to PCR technique detected the sensitivity of IFAT was (100%) and specificity (82%) with accuracy (89%). While the validity of rK39 test according to PCR technique, it was found that the sensitivity of rK39 (97.4%) and specificity (85.2%) with accuracy (90%). The study concludes that these diagnostic methods had an excellent ability of discrimination in diagnosis of VL cases.