Evaluation of Procyclic Agglutination Trypanosomiasis Test (PATT) for the immunodiagnosis of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense sleeping sickness in Kenya.

Documented sera from 156 patients admitted to Alupe Sleeping Sickness Hospital in Western Kenya were tested to determine the potential usefulness of Procclic Agglutination Trypanosomiasis Test (PATT) for the diagnosis of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense African sleeping sickness. A total of 490 serum samples were tested, including 42 controls. Anti-trypanosome antibodies were detected in 99% of the sera taken prior to trypanocidal drug therapy. Antibody levels remained high during course of treatment. In cured cases antibodies declined to negative or low levels 4 months to one year after treatment. High antibody levels persisted in patients who relapsed. Although the results showed a high sensitivity and specificity, confirming the potential usefulness of the test for serodiagnosis of African sleeping sickness, PATT, in its present form is unsuitable for routine diagnosis. This is due to difficulties inherent in the use of live trypanosomes as detector antigen.