BMJ 2006;333:711-712 (7 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.38989.567083.BE
Editorial
Serological tests for visceral leishmaniasis
Have high sensitivity, but several limitations
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Visceral leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease transmitted by sandflies, with 0.5 million new cases annually.1 It is most commonly seen in India, Bangladesh, Brazil, Sudan, and around the Mediterranean. About two cases are seen each year in the United Kingdom, and these usually originate from around the Mediterranean.2
Patients with visceral leishmaniasis present with fever, splenomegaly, and weight loss. It can be difficult to diagnose this disease in endemic settings as several causes of febrile splenomegaly exist, notably malaria. In this week's BMJ, a meta-analysis by Chappuis and colleagues compares the diagnostic performance of two serological tests in endemic settings, the direct agglutination test (DAT) and rK39 dipstick test.3 Outside endemic areas visceral leishmaniasis is often only considered after haematological malignancies have been excluded.2
In immunocompetent people visceral leishmaniasis can be treated with a 28 day course of a pentavalent antimonial, and the cure rate is 90-95%.4 In
Diana N J Lockwood, reader in tropical medicine
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT
(Diana.Lockwood@lshtm.ac.uk)
Shyam Sundar, professor of medicine
Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221005, India
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BMJ 2006 333: 0.[Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]
- A meta-analysis of the diagnostic performance of the direct agglutination test and rK39 dipstick for visceral leishmaniasis
- François Chappuis, Suman Rijal, Alonso Soto, Joris Menten, and Marleen Boelaert
BMJ 2006 333: 723.[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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