title: Annual incidence of visceral leishmaniasis in an endemic area of Bihar, India.
abstract: The study presents the findings of a population-based survey of the annual incidence of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in the rural areas of one VL-endemic district in Bihar, India. Stratified multi-stage sampling was applied in the selection of blocks, villages, hamlets, and households. We screened 15 178 households (91 000 individuals) in 80 villages in 7 of 27 administrative blocks of the district, East Champaran. We identified 227 VL cases that occurred in the past 12 months: 149 treated individuals who survived, 14 who died from VL, and 64 active cases. The high-incidence stratum had an estimated incidence of 35.6 cases per 10 000 persons per year (90% CI: 27.7-45.7). The annual incidence rate in the medium stratum areas was 16.8 cases per 10 000 (90% CI: 9.3-30.6). The combined annual incidence rate for the high and medium areas combined was 21.9 cases per 10 000 per year, (90% CI: 14.0-34.2). The Government of India's VL elimination goal is to reduce the VL incidence to one case per 10 000 at the sub-district level; thus, a 35-fold reduction will be required in those areas with the highest VL incidence.
authors.affiliation: Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, India. drpradeep.das@gmail.com
authors.forename: Pradeep
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Samuels
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Desjeux
authors.forename: Atul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mittal
authors.forename: Roshan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Topno
authors.forename: Niyamat Ali
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Siddiqui
authors.forename: Dipika
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sur
authors.forename: Arvind
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pandey
authors.forename: Rhonda
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sarnoff
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017678:Sex Distribution; D055815:Young Adult