Evaluation of the EIE-IgM-Leptospirose assay for the serodiagnosis of leptospirosis

Access to low-cost, effective diagnosis for leptospirosis is urgently needed in developing countries. The EIE-IgM-Leptospirose, a kit produced for public health laboratories in Brazil, was shown to have a sensitivity of 76% (77 of 102 patients) and 100% (102 of 102 patients) during acute and convalescent-phase leptospirosis, respectively, and a specificity of 93–100% (total healthy and patient control subjects evaluated, 486). These findings indicate that the assay will be useful for diagnosis of this emerging infectious disease in Brazil and other developing countries.