An assay device for the rapid detection of Leptospira-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies in human sera is presented. The sensitivity (85.8%) and specificity (93.6%) of the assay compared well (91.9% agreement) with those of an IgM enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay routinely used in the serodiagnosis of leptospirosis. The sensitivity of the assay varied with the stage of the disease. The assay uses stabilized components and is simply performed by the addition of serum and sample fluid to the sample well of the assay device. The assay is read after 10 min, and a positive result is obtained when staining of the test line is observed.As the clinical symptoms and signs of leptospirosis often are nonspecific, the disease is easily mistaken for other major infectious diseases. Manifestations of leptospirosis may vary, and different types of disease may be observed, from relatively mild influenza-like symptoms to severe disease with renal failure, liver impairment, and haemorrhage (Weil's syndrome). Meningismus and (aseptic) meningitis can be observed as well. Because of the wide variety of symptoms, leptospirosis is easily confused with many other fibril illnesses including haemorrhagic fevers, e.g., dengue fever (7). Laboratory testing to confirm the clinical diagnosis thus is essential for optimal treatment and patient management. The laboratory diagnosis of leptospirosis mainly depends on serology (8). The microscopic agglutination test (MAT) (5, 31) is considered the reference test for leptospirosis, but the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (2, 15-17, 19, 32, 34, 36) and a number of other tests including the immunofluorescent-antibody test (IFAT) (3), the slide agglutination test (9), the macrocapsule agglutination test (4), and the hemagglutination test (13,28,29) can be used as well. Drawbacks of the standard diagnostic assays like MAT, ELISA, and IFAT are that they are not very easy to perform, require special and expensive equipment, depend on the availability of electricity and refrigeration, or can be applied only by trained personnel. Hence, these assays are available only in a few specialized laboratories. MAT, which is considered the reference test for leptospirosis, is rarely performed by routine diagnostic laboratories.Leptospirosis has been reported from countries all over the world (1). Sporadic cases of leptospirosis may occur in countries with moderate climates. The disease, however, can be endemic in countries with wet and warm climates. People living under poor socioeconomical and hygienic conditions are at particular risk of getting the disease. Outbreaks have been reported (6, 11, 12, 14, 20-23, 27, 30, 33). Most people at risk cannot depend on health care facilities supported by laboratories capable of performing the more complicated standard laboratory assays. We previously developed a dipstick assay for the detection of Leptospira-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies in human sera (10,20,(24)(25)(26)35). This assay can be used outside the specialized laboratory and may e...

Infections caused by commensal organisms by changing to infectious life style generate much challenge to the current treatment strategies. Coagulase Negative Staphylococci (CoNS) are one of them, with their coexisting biofilm forming and multiple antibiotic resistance properties form important agents of nosocomial infection. To evaluate species distribution, biofilm formation, and antibiogram, CoNS isolates from various clinical samples were isolated. The presence of biofilm and associated genes icaAB, aap, atlE, embp, bhp, and fbe in CoNS was screened by PCR. The biofilm chemical composition and its correlation with the genotypes were also analysed. Staphylococcus epidermidis (59%) was found to be the most prevalent CoNS species. Most of the CoNS isolates harboring biofilm gene showed carbohydrate-protein-eDNA biofilm, whereas carbohydrate-protein biofilms were also observed. High percentage of multiple drug resistance, and biofilm gene frequency among these CoNS isolates point towards the need of periodic surveillance as CoNS are recently identified to cause difficult to treat infections.

Leptospirosis is an often severe disease which requires prompt treatment. Laboratory testing is required to reach a valid diagnosis. An agglutination assay for the detection of Leptospira‐specific antibodies consisting of individually wrapped agglutination cards containing a stable, dried detection reagent is evaluated. The assay is simply performed by suspending the dried reagent with a drop of serum. The result is obtained within 30 s. The sensitivity of the assay varied with the stage of the disease and was 72.3% for samples collected during the first 10 days of the illness and 88.2% for samples collected at a later stage. The specificity was 93.9% and 89.8%, respectively. These characteristics make the test ideal for use in areas where the disease is common and where laboratory support is not routinely available.