Table 1 Comparison among detection methods applied in the detection of LD in sand flies that corresponds to infectious proportion of PKDL cases

Microscopy negative pooled sand fly specimen only (slide smear DNA excluded)

Positive:

–

40.43%

51.06%

Negative:

–

59.57%

48.93%

Overall positivity (95% CI) considering smear and pool sample extracted DNA

46.81% (32.11% to 61.92%)

55.32% (40.12% to 69.83%)

59.57% (44.27% to 73.63%)

Discordance and agreement among methods (McNemar test; κ-statistic with 95% CI)

Microscopy

–

p = 0.5; κ = 0.831 (0.675–0.987)

p = 0.04; κ = 0.748 (0.565–0.930)

LD-qPCR

–

–

p = 0.5; 0.913 (0.796—1.000)

Feasibility of operation

Type of method

Qualitative

Qualitative/Quantitative

Qualitative

Field applicability

Yes

No

Yes

Test time acquisition

Individual sample (user-dependent)

Individual sample/pool (105 min)

Individual sample/pool (15 min)

Detection test cost($)

2–4

30

8–9