Evaluation of modified lepro-agglutination as screening test for leprosy

One hundred thirty-three leprosy sera (83 multibacillary (MB) and 50 paucibacillary (PB) cases) were screened by lepro-agglutination (LA) and M.leprae particle agglutination (MLPA) tests. Larger number of MB sera were positive by LA (86.75%) than by MLPA (45.12%) test. Thirty-seven of the 45 MB sera negative by MLPA test were positive by LA test. The reverse was true in three out of 11 MB sera. PB sera showed positivity of 16% in LA test and 24% in MLPA test. All the 55 sera from normal healthy individuals and 18 VDRL positive sera from syphilis patients were found to be negative by LA test.