2. Varied collection of protozoal diseases
Named after Leishman - First identified the organisms
in 1901
Smears taken from a man who had died of “Dum
Dum” fever
Annually - Two million cases worldwide
Has emerged as an AIDS - associated opportunistic
infection
4. Endemic in 88 countries on five continents
Cutaneous Leishmaniasis cases occur in Iran,
Afghanistan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Peru
Visceral Leishmaniasis cases occur in
Bangladesh, Brazil, India and Sudan
World Health Organization estimates that 350
million people are at risk
5. 2.4 million disability - adjusted life years
Around 7,00,000 deaths per year
WHO South East Asia Region - 200 million
people in the Region are “at risk”
6. World’s largest foci of Visceral Leishmaniasis, accounting for
50% of the total burden
Endemic in 4 states in India:
Bihar- 32 districts Jharkhand- 4 districts
West Bengal- 11 districts Uttar Pradesh- 5 districts
An estimated 165.4 million population is at risk
About 1,00,000 cases occur annually
8. 19 protozoan species
Genus Leishmania
Amastigote- obligate intracellular parasites and
divide in macrophages- diagnostic phase
Promastigotes- extracellular present in the
arthropod vectors- infective phase
Absence of cross immunity
9. Leishmania donovani complex
Leishmania donovani, L. infantum and L. chagasi
Leishmania mexicana complex
L. mexicana, L. amazonensis and L. venezuelensis
Leishmania tropica
Leishmania major
Leishmania aethiopica
In India: Leishmania donovani
10.
11. Female sand flies of the genus Lutzomyia in
the Americas and Phlebotomus in other parts
of the world
Sandflies breed in cracks and crevices in the
soil and buildings, tree holes and caves
Sandflies are active in the evening and night -
time hours
In India, Phlebotomus argentipes is a proven
vector of KalaAzar.
12. Cutaneous form mainly zoonotic,
- humans are accidentally exposed
Indian Kala - Azar is anthroponotic with humans
being the only known reservoir of infection
Peak age of infection is 5 to 9 years
Males
Poor socio-economic background
Common in various farming practices, forestry,
mining and fishing
13. Mostly confined to the plains
Overcrowding,
Poor ventilation
High relative humidity, warm temperature
Accumulation of organic matter in the
environment facilitates transmission
14. Transmitted by the bite of infected female
sandflies
Rarely: initiated by amastigotes via blood
(shared needles, transfusion, transplacental
spread) or organ transplantation
16. Typical lesion :
Develops at the site where promastigotes are
injected by the vector
A papule - papule enlarges – ulcerates
Multiple lesions may be present
17.
18. Infected with Leishmania braziliensis
Begins with nasal stuffiness and inflammation
Ulceration of the nasal mucosa and septum
follows.
The lips, cheeks, soft palate, pharynx and
larynx may eventually be involved, resulting in
substantial disfigurement
More common among immunosuppressed
with neoplasms or AIDS
19. Recurrent fever
Loss of appetite, pallor and weight loss with
progressive emaciation
Weakness
Splenomegaly - spleen enlarges rapidly to massive
enlargement, usually soft and non-tender
Liver - enlargement not to the extent of spleen, soft,
smooth surface, sharp edge
20.
21. Death often occurs due to a secondary bacterial
infection, such as
Pneumonia, Septicemia,
Dysentery, Tuberculosis,
Measles Other viral infections
22. Anaemia, Neutropenia, Thrombocytopenia and
pronounced hypergammaglobulinemia.
The anaemia is usually normocytic, normochromic,
unless there is concomitant iron deficiency
Leukopenia can be profound with white blood cell
counts below 1000/mL
The globulin level can reach 9 or 10 g/dl.
23. Some patients in India and Africa develop skin lesions
following treatment, ranging from hyperpigmented macules
to frank nodules
Skin lesions typically appear 1 or 2 years after treatment and
may persist for as long as 20 years.
Persistence of lesions beyond one year is associated with high
anti - leishmanial antibody titers and negative leishmanial skin
test responses
Anti - leishmanial treatment is indicated in Indian PKDL
24. Immunocompromised individuals progress to develop the
disease far more often than immunocompetent people
It quickly accelerates the onset of AIDS and shortens the
life expectancy of HIV - infected people.
Visceral Leishmaniasis is considered a major contributor
to a fatal outcome HIV in co - infected patients
25. Parasite Identification:
Wright-Giemsa stain is used for identifying amastigotes
in tissue sections
Serology:
Anti-leishmanial antibody titers are typically present in:
▪ High titer in people with Visceral Leishmaniasis and
▪ Low titer or undetectable in those with Cutaneous
Leishmaniasis.
Assays such as ELISA, IFAT and agglutination assays,
rk-39 rapid diagnostic test
26. Skin Test
Intradermal leishmanin (Montenegro) skin test
Positive Negative
- Asymptomatic
- Self resolving
leishmania
- Following successful
treatment
- Progressive visceral
Leishmaniasis
- Diffuse cutaneous
Leishmaniasis
27. Aldehyde test
Napier is a simple test
1 to 2 ml of serum from a case of kala-azar is taken
and a drop or two of 40 per cent formalin is added.
A positive test is indicated by jellification to milk-
white opacity like the white of a hard-boiled egg
so that in ordinary light newsprint is invisible
through it
28. FIRST LINE OF DRUGS
SHORT TERM LONG TERM
SSG
SENSITIVITY
>90%
SSG
SENSITIVITY
<90%
SSG 20
mg/Kg i.m or
i.v for 20
days
Amphotericin B
1mg/kg i.v daily
or alternate days
SSG
RESISTANCE
>20%
SSG
SENSITIVITY
>80%
MILTEFOSINE
100mg/day
divided doses for
4 weeks
SSG
20mg/kg/ day
i.m/i.v for 30
days
CONTROL OF RESERVOIR
29. SECOND LINE OF DRUGS
SSG FAILURE SSG AND MILTEFOSINE FAILURE
Amphotericin B
1mg/kg i.v daily
or alternate
LIPOSOMAL
AMPHOTERICIN
B
30. Treatment of PKDL :
SSG in usual dosage for kala azar
Could be given for 120 days.
Repeated 3-4 courses of Amphotericin B can be
given in patients failing SSG treatment.
31. Sandfly Control: using residual insecticides, DDT used as
the first choice
BHC may be used as second line of defence
Santation measures like removal of breeding places
Personal prophylaxis: The short - term visitor to an
endemic area should use personal protective measures to
avoid sand fly bites
The application of DEET (diethyltoluamide)
Use of fine mesh nets
Application of insect repellants
32. 1. The disease is endemic in following three
countries of the WHO South East Asia Region
except:
(a). Bangladesh (b) India (c) Nepal (d) Sri lanka
2. The disease is reported in _________ no of
districts in India:
(a) 51 (b) 52 (c) 53 (d) 54
33. 3. State which accounts for more than 90 per cent of the
cases in India
(a) Uttar Pradesh (b) Bihar (c) Assam (d) M.P
4. Leishmania donovani complex comprises of all except
(a) Leishmania infantum (b) Leishmania chagasi
(c) Leishmania venezuelensis (d) Leishmania donovani
5. Cutaneous Leishmaniasis is also known as all the following
except
(a) Oriental sore (b) Aleppo evil (c) Delhi boil (d) Espundia
Answers : (1) d; (2) b; (3) b; (4) c; (5) a.
Notas del editor
spontaneously healing skin ulcer to overwhelming visceral disease
Similarly AIDS increases the risk of Visceral Leishmaniasis by 100 - 1000 times in endemic areas
containing insect repellents to exposed skin and under pant and shirt cuffs, the use of fine – mesh screens or insect nets, and the application of insecticide (usually permethrin or other pyrethroids) to clothing and bed nets - decrease the risk of transmission