01859nas a2200277   4500000000100000008004100001653001000042653002000052653001200072653001500084653001000099653001900109100001000128700001000138700001100148700001100159700001200170700001300182700000900195245010900204856008000313300001100393490000900404520115400413022001401567       2014                            d10aTools10aLeprosy control10aleprosy10aEvaluation10aChina10aCase detection1 aWen Y1 aYou Y1 aYuan L1 aYuan Y1 aZhang Y1 aDuthie M1 aLi H00aEvaluation of novel tools to facilitate the detection and characterization of leprosy patients in china.  uhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4145546/pdf/BMRI2014-371828.pdf  a3718280 v20143 a<p>Leprosy is the disabling outcome of chronic infection with Mycobacterium leprae. The disease often evades early detection, particularly now that fewer clinicians are able to confidently diagnose the disease following the integration of leprosy control measures within general health services in many countries. Although leprosy is officially eliminated in China, endemic regions remain in some difficult-to-reach, underdeveloped areas in Southwest China. In order to better understand the extent of M. leprae infection and identify new leprosy cases in a timely manner, simple tools that can detect infection and the early disease are required. In this report we evaluated the performance of antigen-specific ELISA, the NDO-LID rapid diagnostic test, and antigen-specific whole blood assays (WBA) as potential diagnostic tools. Our data support the use of antibody detection tests and WBA to facilitate the diagnosis of multibacillary and paucibacillary leprosy, respectively. These tools could be invaluable for increased, but simplified, monitoring of individuals in order to provide referrals for clinical exam and early leprosy diagnosis.</p>  a2314-6141