The unknown nature of the antigen in the direct agglutination test for visceral leishmaniasis hampers development of serodiagnostic tests Institute of Tropical Medicine
Current diagnostic tests for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) are either not adapted for use in resource-poor settings or are insufficiently accurate in Eastern Africa. Only the direct agglutination test (DAT), based on whole Leishmania promastigotes, is highly reliable in all endemic regions, but its implementation is hampered by the need for a cold chain, minimal laboratory conditions, and long incubation times. Integrating the DAT antigen(s) in an ...