Comparison of the Serion IgM ELISA and Microscopic Agglutination Test for diagnosis of Leptospira spp. infections in sera from different geographical origins and estimation of Leptospira seroprevalence in the Wiwa indigenous population from Colombia

Leptospirosis is among the most important zoonotic diseases in (sub-)tropical countries. The research objective was to evaluate the accuracy of the Serion IgM ELISA EST125M against the Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT = imperfect reference test); to assess its ability to diagnose acute leptospiro...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLoS neglected tropical diseases Vol. 16; no. 6; p. e0009876
Main Authors: Dreyfus, Anou, Ruf, Marie-Thérèse, Goris, Marga, Poppert, Sven, Mayer-Scholl, Anne, Loosli, Nadine, Bier, Nadja S, Paris, Daniel H, Tshokey, Tshokey, Stenos, John, Rajaonarimirana, Eliharintsoa, Concha, Gustavo, Orozco, Jorge, Colorado, Johana, Aristizábal, Andrés, Dib, Juan C, Kann, Simone
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Public Library of Science 06-06-2022
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects:
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Leptospirosis is among the most important zoonotic diseases in (sub-)tropical countries. The research objective was to evaluate the accuracy of the Serion IgM ELISA EST125M against the Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT = imperfect reference test); to assess its ability to diagnose acute leptospirosis infections and to detect previous exposure to leptospires in an endemic setting. In addition, to estimate the overall Leptospira spp. seroprevalence in the Wiwa indigenous population in North-East Colombia. We analysed serum samples from confirmed leptospirosis patients from the Netherlands (N = 14), blood donor sera from Switzerland (N = 20), and sera from a cross-sectional study in Colombia (N = 321). All leptospirosis ELISA-positive, and a random of negative samples from Colombia were tested by the MAT for confirmation. The ELISA performed with a sensitivity of 100% (95% CI 77% - 100%) and a specificity of 100% (95% CI 83% - 100%) based on MAT confirmed Leptospira spp. positive and negative samples. In the cross-sectional study in Colombia, the ELISA performed with a sensitivity of 100% (95% CI 2-100%) and a specificity of 21% (95% CI 15-28%). Assuming a 5% Leptospira spp. seroprevalence in this population, the positive predictive value was 6% and the negative predictive value 100%. The Leptospira spp. seroprevalence in the Wiwas tested by the ELISA was 39%; however, by MAT only 0.3%. The ELISA is suitable to diagnose leptospirosis in acutely ill patients in Europe several days after onset of disease. For cross-sectional studies it is not recommended due to its low specificity. Despite the evidence of a high leptospirosis prevalence in other study areas and populations in Colombia, the Wiwa do not seem to be highly exposed to Leptospira spp.. Nevertheless, leptospirosis should be considered and tested in patients presenting with febrile illness.
Bibliography:new_version
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
ISSN:1935-2735
1935-2727
1935-2735
DOI:10.1371/journal.pntd.0009876