[leish-l] MSF appeals for sera and advice.

[Davidson, Robert N]

Dear Leishmaniacs,
 
This year, Medecins Sans Frontieres - Holland treated its 50,000th kala azar
patient in the East African region. 
 
We are trying to improve the accuracy of the rK39  dipstick, for the rapid
diagnosis of KA in Sudan/Ethiopia. We are actively engaged on this,  and
have excellent links with industrial R&D partners. Our objective  is to
produce a strip which works on whole blood,  probably 2 strips which are
used for screening and confirmation. We find that rK39 works less  well  in
Sudan than reported elsewhere  (Zijlstra Trop Med Int Health. 2001
Feb;6(2):108-13; Veeken Trop Med Int Health in press 2002). We may need to
alter the reagents on the strip or  use a combination of rK39 and  other
recombinant antigens.

Q1: Does anyone know if rK39 is an immunodominant peptide on the strains  of
the Sudanese-epidemic L donovani zymodemes MON 18, MON 30 and MON 82 (which
are  said to be closely related) ?

 Q2: Could anyone donate to our R&D efforts some sera from patients with
proven kala azar in Sudan (north or South) or northeast Ethiopia (Humera
focus)? Volumes of a few mL from a small number of well-characterised
patients are what we seek.

Best wishes,

Rob Davidson (technical kala azar adviser, MSF-Holland)

 

 

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