Publications by authors named "Etsay Nigus"
Article Synopsis
- The study assessed the effectiveness of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for diagnosing visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Ethiopia, showing a high sensitivity of 95.9% and specificity of 98.0%.
- LAMP demonstrated strong performance against existing methods, detecting 94.3% of microscopy-positive cases and 94.2% of rK39-positive cases, with particularly high sensitivity in HIV-positive patients (100%).
- Combining rK39 serology with LAMP could achieve a remarkable sensitivity of 99.2% and retains a specificity of 98.0%, showcasing LAMP as a rapid and reliable diagnostic option for VL, even in HIV co-in
Background: The rapid diagnostic test (RDT) rK39 is currently being used for routine diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in East Africa. However, continuous monitoring of the performance of the assay, in particular its impact on the clinical decision in initiating anti-leishmanial treatment and outcomes remains needed as there are concerns about the diagnostic performance of this test.
Methods: VL patients prospectively enrolled in a diagnostic trial and with rK39 RDT were included.
Objective/background: Generating epidemiological data on multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is essential to assess the magnitude and trends of anti-TB drug resistance. This study determined the prevalence of MDR-TB among presumptive MDR cases referred to a TB referral laboratory in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.
Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 262 culture-positive presumptive MDR-TB samples submitted to the Tigray Regional Research Laboratory for MDR testing between January 2013 and August 2014.