In India outbreaks of Leptospirosis have been reported from many parts of the country.Leptospirosis remains under diagnosed largely due to large spectrum of symptoms and signs attributed to the pathogenic  leptospira.

A study was conducted during JAN-FEB 2002 on 200 cases with fever of less than 10 days duration.                                    The diagnostic tests for leptospirosis  included DARK  FIELD MICROSCOPY(DFM).

STAINING,MACROSCOPIC SLIDE AGGLUTINATION TEST (MSAT)AND MICROSCOPIC AGGLUTINATION TEST(MAT).DFM and staining picked up only a few cases –7.5%,whereas serological tests revealed the prevalence to be 42.5%(MSAT) and 26.5%(MAT).

Even in the hands of trained personel DFM has low sensitivity ,the number of organisms in the sample should be large to get better results and it is necessary to confirm by culture or serological test. Hence the serological tests are preferred in the diagnosis of leptospirosis.