OneWorld.net (U.S.)

The first rapid diagnostic test for the deadly ‘kala-azar’ or visceral leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease that kills thousands of people in India each year, has been developed by Indian scientists at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Unlike the current test, which requires a painful surgical procedure that often itself proves fatal, the new test ‘Signal-Ka’ that requires only a blood sample from the patient is simple, painless and cost-effective. With a 100% efficiency rate, it costs only Rs 60-70, a mere fraction of the current cost of diagnosis.

In another advantage over the existing test, the new diagnostic kit can test for kala-azar much before symptoms of the disease manifest themselves. Both the process and the product have been patented internationally.

Kala-azar is caused by the parasite Leishmania donovani that is transmitted to humans through the bite of the sandfly. It causes fever, weakness, anaemia and swelling of the liver and spleen. Untreated, the disease can be fatal. Of the 5 million people who get it in India each year, more than 60,000 die as they are not diagnosed or treated in time.

Until now, the only way of detecting kala-azar was bone marrow or spleen biopsy, performed only by a skilled doctor. The new test uses a strip of special paper with a ‘dot’ containing a protein made by the parasite. When blood from an infected person is put onto the paper, antibodies made by the immune system attach to the protein making the dot change colour.

“It just takes eight minutes,” says Sarman Singh of the AIIMS, which developed the test with funds from India’s department of biotechnology.

SOURCE: Infochange News and Features