Humoral antibody response in Leishmania tropica infection

A small epidemic of Leishmania tropica infection was detected in Rajasthan, India. Most cases were in the 21-25 years age group and were possibly related to outdoor activity. Nearly one third of the patients had more than five lesions, the maximum number of lesions being confined to the face, neck and extremities. As determined by ELISA, 90% cases had leishmania antibodies with an od range of 0·8-1·1. The serum of 60% of patients was positive by CIEP against L. tropica promastigote soluble antigen. By immunofluorescence, 96% persons were positive when L. tropica promastigotes were used as the substrate. The prevalence of infection with L. tropica appears to be much higher than that reported earlier.