Application of direct agglutination test and fast agglutination screening test for serodiagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis in endemic area of Minas Gerais, Brazil

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We have tested an indirect fluorescence technique (IFAT), fast agglutination screening test (FAST) and direct agglutination test (DAT) for the detection of anti-Leishmania antibodies in serum and blood samples from patients with visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis in Brazil. For visceral leishmaniasis the results obtained with DAT showed a sensitivity and specificity of 100% with a cut-off value of 1:800. The blood and serum samples could also be clearly read in FAST using a 1:100 dilution with the same high sensitivity. Both DAT and FAST were not able to detect significant amounts of antibodies in samples from cutaneous leishmaniasis patients.