Assessment of the direct agglutination test, fast agglutination screening test, and rK [39] dipstick test for the sero-diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis in Syria

To evaluate the performances of 3 serological assays [direct agglutination test [DAT], fast agglutination screening test [FAST], recombinant protein [rK39] dipstick] test for use in primary care, for the diagnosis visceral leishmaniasis [VL] in Syria. We utilized 267 serum samples obtained during 2007 from patient groups confirmed and suspected VL, confirmed cutaneous leishmaniasis, toxoplasmosis from endemic areas in Syria and control samples, and applied the 3 serological tests in the Damascus University, Damascus and Health laboratories at the same time, on these samples. Our data show that the tests were very sensitive, where the DAT was the most specific followed by FAST, then rK39 dipstick. Our study confirmed that all the tests performed well, and proved to be very important sero-diagnosis tools for visceral leishmaniasis

Sleep habits and patterns among medical students

This study was designed to assess sleep patterns among male medical students at different academic levels. Participants in this study were healthy male medical students in the first [L1], second [L2] and third [L3] academic levels of the College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted during November 2001. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to students to assess age, academic level, registered credit hours, sleep-wake schedule, naps, quality of sleep, total sleep time at night, possible factors affecting bedtime, and daytime sleepiness using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale [ESS]. The final analysis included 129 students. Total sleep time at night + nap of the whole group was 5.9 ' 1.6 hours. Twenty-nine students [22.4%] were defined to have excessive daytime sleepiness [EDS] based on ESS score of >10. Also, 83.3% of students reported napping during the daytime more than twice per week. Analysis of the sleep pattern of male medical students revealed that this group is sleep deprived, which in turn may affect their academic performance

Visceral leishmaniasis in the Syrian Arab Republic: early detection using rK39

Leishmaniasis causes significant morbidity and mortality in areas where it is endemic. A seroprevalence survey was conducted in 2 endemic villages in Daraa, Syrian Arab Republic, where 80 out of 345 children [23.2%] tested positive for visceral leishmaniasis [VL] using rK39 dipstick test. Only 10 cases were symptomatic [12.5%], and 27.5% were positive by ELISA test. All the sera [N = 138] obtained from the control village were negative. Of the rK39 initially positive cases, 52 had seroconverted to negative 9 months later, 55 remained ELISA negative, and none developed the full-blown disease. Being faster and less expensive than other diagnostic tests, rK39 is a rapid, sensitive and specific diagnostic tool for symptomatic cases of VL in remote areas with poor accessibility to health services