title: Seroepidemiologic study of Leishmania infantum infection in Castilla-Leon, Spain.
abstract: Leishmaniasis has increased in importance in recent years because infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has emerged as a risk factor for this disease. However, the actual prevalence of leishmaniasis in the general population of Spain is unknown. We present a study of the seroprevalence of infection with Leishmania infantum in the general population of Castilla-Leon, Spain. A random sample of individuals presenting to health care clinics (4,825 sera) and of HIV-infected patients in the autonomous community of Castilla-Leon was collected in 1996. The sero-prevalence of antibodies to L. infantum was determined by an indirect enzyme immunoassay and found to be 4.9% in the general population. There was a significant increase in seroprevalence with age (P = 0.001), from 3.96% in those 14-20 years old to 7.2% in those > 70 years old. There were no significant differences between women and men (5.0% versus 4.9%; P = 0.9534). Seroprevalence was significantly higher in people from rural areas than in those from cities (6.0% versus 3.4%; P = 0.001). Patients infected with HIV had a seroprevalence for L. infantum of 64.0%. No differences were observed between women and men, and prevalence did not increase with age.
authors.affiliation: Area de Microbiología, Facultad de Medicina, Avenida Ramon y Cajal no. 7, 47005 Valladolid, Spain.
authors.forename: José I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Garrote
authors.forename: M Purificacion
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez
authors.forename: Raúl López
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Izquierdo
authors.forename: M Ana I
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Dueñas
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zarzosa
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cañavate
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El Bali
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Almaraz
authors.forename: Miguel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Bratos
authors.forename: Clara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Berbel
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Torres
authors.forename: Antonio Orduña
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Domingo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D018314:Leishmania infantum / Q000276:immunology*; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D007074:Immunoglobulin G