© 2018 Indian Dermatology Online Journal | Published by Wolters Kluwer Medknow A 16‐year‐old male from Bihar had confluent hypopigmented plaques along with erythematous succulent papules on the chin, trunk, and shoulders for the past 8 years. There was relative sparing of axillae, suprapubic, and inguinal regions [Figures 1a‐c]. He had a history of kala‐azar. Skin biopsy and smear showed numero...

The diagnosis of Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum infection in children from birth may serve as a reference for the early identification of cases that would progress to classical visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in endemic areas. This study prospectively evaluated newborns of mothers living in the municipality of Paracatu, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The infants were followed up at 6-month intervals by cl...

BACKGROUND Immunochromatographic based rk39 antibody detection test became popular for the diagnosis of visceral leishmaiasis (VL) because of high sensitivity, rapidity, easy to interpret, and cost effectiveness. However, false positive result after complete cure of the patients is the major limitation with this test. The aim of the study to access the usefulness of non-invasive samples i.e. ur...

OBJECTIVE To compare the performance of the direct agglutination test and rK39 dipstick for the diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis. DATA SOURCES Medline, citation tracking, January 1986 to December 2004. Selection criteria Original studies evaluating the direct agglutination test or the rK39 dipstick with clinical visceral leishmaniasis as target condition; adequate reference classification;...

An increase in the incidence of human visceral leishmaniasis (HVL) has been detected in recent years on Margarita Island, located off the NE coast of Venezuela. Recent studies have revealed reactivity to rK39 antigen (Leishmania chagasi) in 20% of 541 sera from domestic dogs in endemic communities; PCR reactions were positive using primers for the L. donovani complex. Here we report that isolat...

BACKGROUND Diagnostic guidelines for Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) in the East African region are complex. Patients meeting the VL clinical case definition should be tested by rK39 rapid diagnostic test (RDT) followed by the Direct Agglutination Test (DAT) or tissue aspiration if RDT-negative. Otherwise, RDT-positive patients should be started on VL treatment. We evaluated how this guideline is a...

BACKGROUND Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is diagnosed by microscopic confirmation of the parasite in bone marrow, spleen or lymph node aspirates. These procedures are unsuitable for rapid diagnosis of VL in field settings. The development of rK39-based rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) revolutionized diagnosis of VL by offering high sensitivity and specificity in detecting disease in the Indian subcon...

Accurate diagnosis of canine leishmaniasis (CanL) is essential toward a more efficient control of this zoonosis, but it remains problematic due to the high incidence of asymptomatic infections. In this study, we present data on the development of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based techniques for the detection of antibodies against the recombinant protein Leishmania infantum cytosol...

Dogs are considered the main reservoir of Leishmania infantum. This protozoan causes visceral leishmaniasis (VL), an uncontrolled urban zoonosis in Brazil. Serological tests and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on peripheral blood were performed to identify infected dogs in scenarios of higher and lower prevalence of the disease (Teresina and Vitória). One-hundred infected and 57 non-infected an...

Infection with Leishmania infantum causes the disease visceral leishmaniasis (VL), which is a serious clinical and veterinary problem. The drugs used to treat canine (CanL) do not cause complete parasite clearance; they can be toxic, emerging drug resistance in populations limits their utility. Therefore, this study we have evaluated toxicity efficacy of joint treatment 1:1 mixture sodium stibo...