Novel noninvasive method for diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis by rK39 testing of sputum samples.

摘要

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a major public health problem in the eastern states in India, namely, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Eastern Uttar Pradesh. Bihar alone accounts for >90 of the total number of cases of kala-azar reported in India. The disease is predominantly found in poor and malnourished people (9). The development of a simple, noninvasive, cheap, and reliable diagnostic tool has been suggested as a prerequisite to controlling the disease (3, 4).