Accurate Serodetection of Asymptomatic Leishmania donovani Infection by Use of Defined Antigens.

Infection with Leishmania donovaniis typically asymptomatic, but a significant number of individuals may progress to visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a deadly disease that threatens 200 million people in areas where it is endemic. While diagnosis of acute VL has been simplified by the use of cost-effective confirmatory serological tests, similar standardized tools are not widely available for detecting asymptomatic infection, which can be 4 to 20 times more prevalent than active disease. A simple and accurate serological test that is capable of detecting asymptomaticL.