Incidence of symptomatic and asymptomatic Leishmania donovani infections in high-endemic foci in India and Nepal: a prospective study

Ostyn, Bart ; Gidwani, Kamlesh ; Khanal, Basudha ; Picado, Albert ; Chappuis, François ; Singh, Shri Prakash ; Rijal, Suman ; Sundar, Shyam ; Boelaert, Marleen (2011) Incidence of symptomatic and asymptomatic Leishmania donovani infections in high-endemic foci in India and Nepal: a prospective study PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 5 (10). e1284_1-e1284_7. ISSN 1935-2735

[img]
Preview
PDF - Publisher Version
233kB

Official URL: http://www.plosntds.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.13...

Related URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001284

Abstract

Incidence of Leishmania donovani infection and Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) was assessed in a prospective study in Indian and Nepalese high-endemic villages. DAT-seroconversion was used as marker of incident infection in 3 yearly surveys. The study population was followed up to month 30 to identify incident clinical cases. In a cohort of 9034 DAT-negative individuals with neither active signs nor history of VL at baseline, 42 VL cases and 375 asymptomatic seroconversions were recorded in the first year, giving an infection:disease ratio of 8.9 to 1. In the 18 months' follow-up, 7 extra cases of VL were observed in the seroconverters group (N = 375), against 14 VL cases among the individuals who had not seroconverted in the first year (N = 8570) (RR = 11.5(4.5<RR<28.3)). Incident asymptomatic L. donovani infection in VL high-endemic foci in India and Nepal is nine times more frequent than incident VL disease. About 1 in 50 of these new but latent infections led to VL within the next 18 months.

Item Type:Article
Source:Copyright of this article belongs to Public Library of Science.
ID Code:94438
Deposited On:15 Nov 2012 07:16
Last Modified:19 May 2016 07:17

Repository Staff Only: item control page