Leptospirosis reference and diagnostic services

KIT Biomedical Research harbours a Leptospirosis Reference Laboratory (WHO/FAO Collaborating Center for Reference and Research on Leptospirosis) and an OIE Reference Laboratory for Leptospirosis and Nationaal Referentielaboratorium voor Leptospirosen (NRL). It maintains a collection of Leptospira reference strains and offers a variety of reference materials and services to the health care community, including training on an individual basis or through international courses. It performs research on a number of topics in the field.

Diagnostic services
After infection, leptospires are present in the blood until they are cleared after 5 to 10 days after onset of the disease following the production of anti-Leptospira antibodies, initially mainly of the IgM class. The laboratory diagnosis of leptospirosis mainly relies on the detection of these anti-Leptospira antibodies in patients' serum. 

• The microscopic agglutination test (MAT) is the cornerstone of the serodiagnosis of leptospirosis, because this assay has a high sensitivity and allows for the detection of presumptive group-specific antibodies.
• The IgM-ELISA has the capacity to detect with a high sensitivity specific IgM antibodies as a sign of current or recent leptospirosis.
• In the first few days of leptospirosis there is a diagnostic breach, as conventional methods cannot provide early diagnosis. PCR is a successful method to detect Leptospira DNA in serum in the first week of infection. A real time PCR has been developed and is in the process of validation. Currently this test is performed on an experimental basis.