[Latex agglutination system for the rapid diagnosis of leptospirosis in Cuba].

Objectives: To assess the sensitivity, specificity, reproducibility, and stability of five latex agglutination systems for detecting antibodies against leptospira in human and animal sera, by using the Leptospira serotypes that are most widely prevalent in Cuba.

Methods: We performed an analytic and descriptive study with 706 human sera (65 tested positive for antibodies against leptospira with microagglutination (MAT) and hemagglutination (HA) techniques; 156 sera that tested negative with MAT and HA); 485 sera from 424 patients who had clinical or epidemiologic signs of leptospirosis; and 29 animal sera (16 from equines, 6 from bovines, 5 from porcines, 1 from a canine, and 1 from an ovine). All of the samples were tested with five latex conjugates made from whole cells of Leptospira interrogans, specifically the four serogroups that circulated most widely in Cuba from 2002 to 2004.