title: Infection rates with Leishmania donovani and Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a village in eastern Sudan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Leishmania-tuberculosis co-infection is not uncommon in clinical practice in East Africa, but little is known about the epidemiology of this problem at population level. A cross-sectional household survey was carried out in an active visceral leishmaniasis (VL) focus in Eastern Sudan in February 2002.
  
  
  METHODS
  All inhabitants of Marbata village in Atbara River Area, Gedarif State, who gave informed consent, underwent both a leishmanin skin test (LST) and a tuberculin test for infection with L. donovani and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. All subjects were clinically screened for VL and tuberculosis (TB).
  
  
  RESULTS
  About 66% (252 of 382) were LST-positive, 26% (100 of 382) were tuberculin-positive and 20% (77 of 382) were positive for both tests. By the age of 15, more than 60% of inhabitants were LST-positive, but <20% were tuberculin-positive. By the age of 30, these percentages increased to 100 and 50%. No association was found at the individual level between leishmanial and tuberculous infection after controlling for age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this community study, we found no association between the risk of infection with L. donovani and M. tuberculosis. However, the progression to active VL disease might be different in M. tuberculosis-infected than in non-infected persons and vice versa. Prospective studies are needed to document the prognosis of TB/VL co-infection.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Khartoum University, Khartoum, Sudan. syda_h@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Sayda Hassan
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: el-Safi
authors.forename: Nuha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hamid
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Omer
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abdel-Haleem
authors.forename: Awad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hammad
authors.forename: Hussein Gad
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Kareem
authors.forename: Marleen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boelaert
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007893:Leishmania donovani; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis; D015995:Prevalence; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013397:Sudan / Q000453:epidemiology; D014374:Tuberculin Test; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology*