[Contribution of serologic technics to the analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid in Congolese patients with sleeping sickness]. / Apport des techniques sérologiques dans l'analyse du liquide céphalo-rachidien de patients congolais atteints de la maladie du sommeil.

Three serological tests: the Card Agglutination Test (Testryp CATT), the Indirect Immunofluorescence Antibody Test (IFAT) and the Cellognost Indirect Haemagglutination technique (CIHA) were used to analyse the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 41 patients infected with Trypanosoma gambiense and 30 uninfected persons. The authors reported the following data: --IFAT and especially CIHA were more efficient than CATT to demonstrate the presence of specific antibodies in the CSF; --the intensity of the cell and protein alterations paralleled the IFAT fluorescence intensity and the CIHA dilution titers; --this study indicated that the immunological analysis applied to CSF may prove to be a useful procedure to diagnosis the early onset of the attack on the nervous system and the evolution of the disease measured by the intensity of the reactions.

Serodiagnosis of sleeping sickness in the Republic of the Congo: comparison of indirect immunofluorescent antibody test and card agglutination test.

The card agglutination test for trypanosomiasis (CATT) was evaluated and compared to the classical immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT) in the immunological diagnosis of Gambian trypanosomiasis. Tests were performed on serum and whole blood. Cross-reactions were found in the CATT with sera from patients suffering from parasitic infections other than sleeping sickness, but could be largely overcome by selecting 1/10 as the specific threshold dilution. At 1/40 dilution no false positive result was observed in the IFAT. At the specific threshold dilution, the sensitivity of IFAT was 94.7%, compared with 91.6% for the CATT. On whole blood, a more convenient sample in the field, IFAT specificity (100%) was greater than that of the CATT (94.3%), as was its sensitivity (92% compared with 82.5%). In view of its simplicity and rapidity of execution, the CATT is an efficient serological test to detect new foci. When greater sensitivity is required, IFAT should be preferred to CATT.

[Morphologic comparison of Congo and Cameroon species of Glossina caliginea Austen, 1911]. / Comparaison morphologique des spécimens congolais et camerounais de Glossina caliginea Austen, 1911.

G. caliginea have been discovered in the south-western part of the People's Republic of Congo, along the littoral of the Atlantic Ocean. Congolese specimens were compared with specimens from Cameroon and the geographical distribution is rewieved.