Visceral Leishmaniasis diagnosis: a rapid test is a must at the hospital bedside

At the time of the widespread availability of rapid diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2—the causative virus of the COVID-19 pandemic—from drugstores throughout Brazil, there is a distinct lack of use of rapid diagnostic tests for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) at the bedsides of hospitalized patients. These tests are mainly distributed by the Ministerio da Saude do Brazil-MS (Ministry of Health) only to the Laboratorios Centrais de Saude Publica – LACENs (Central Public Health Laboratories) and are predominantly provided to public hospitals. VL [...]