Molecular Diagnostic Methods for the Detection of Leptospirosis

Leptospirosis is a widespread infectious disease caused by the spirochete Leptospira. The clinical features of leptospirosis are fever, headache, vomiting, jaundice, and the acute form of the disease is commonly called Weil's disease. The microscopic agglutination test (MAT) is a gold standard method used to detect leptospirosis. However, it requires 14 days of time and skilled personnel to detect leptospirosis. Various molecular methods were developed for the rapid detection process, including polymerase chain reaction (PCR), multiplex PCR, nested PCR, real-time PCR, and Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). Other immuno-based biosensor kits are readily available for the diagnosis of leptospirosis. Though these methods claim to be highly sensitive and specific, each method has its drawbacks. This review discusses the different molecular diagnostic techniques applied for the diagnosis of leptospirosis; elaborating on each method's sensitivity, specificity, and detection time and the different samples of water, blood, and urine used.