title: Epidemiological and immunological aspects of human visceral leishmaniasis on Margarita Island, Venezuela.
abstract: Sixty-five patients were diagnosed with visceral leishmaniasis (VL) on Margarita Island in the decade from 1990 to1999; 86.2% were <= 3 years old. All were leishmanin-negative at diagnosis. Evaluation of 23 cured patients in 1999 revealed that 22/23 had converted to leishmanin-positive; five had persisting antibodies to rK39 antigen, with no clinical evidence of disease. Leishmanin tests were positive in 20.2% of 1,643 healthy individuals from 417 households in endemic areas. Of the positive reactors, 39.8% were identified in 35 (8.4%) of the households, 15 of which had an antecedent case of VL, a serologically positive dog or both. Weak serological activity to rK39 antigen was detected in 3 of 488 human sera from the endemic areas. The presence of micro-foci of intense peri-urban transmission and the apparent absence of other Trypanosomatidae causing human disease offer a unique opportunity for the study of reservoirs, alternative vectors and evaluation of control measures on the Island.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biomedicina, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela. ozerpa@telcel.net.ve
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Zerpa
authors.forename: Marian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ulrich
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benitez
authors.forename: Concepción
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Avila
authors.forename: Vestalia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Centeno
authors.forename: Doris
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Belizario
authors.forename: Steven G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Reed
authors.forename: Jacinto
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Convit
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D004285:Dogs; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007893:Leishmania donovani; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014687:Venezuela / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; C079253:K39 antigen, Leishmania