Services to Develop, Standardize, and Validate Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Protocols for the Detection of Leishmaniasis in Clinical Samples.
Abstract
The disease Leishmaniasis, endemic in Africa, South West Asia, and South America, is caused by transmission of a parasite of the Theishmania species via the bite of an infected sandfly. The severity of the disease ranges from cutaneous lesions to a frequently fatal visceralization of the internal organs unless treated at an early stage. Detection of the parasite is difficult because only low numbers of infected cells are found in Peripheral blood. Existing tests for Theishmania parasites are time consuming and have high (50%) false negative rates. We report here the development of a rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based diagnostic capable of detecting 1-10 infected cells in 1.5 x 10 6 PBMCs or 2-5 mis of peripheral blood. The test has an accuracy greater than 92%, and a false negative rate of less than 8%, when validated against known clinical samples.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 17, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA290155
Entities
People
- Frank A. White Iii
- Kalachar Suryanaarayana