title: Are opossums a relevant factor associated with asymptomatic Leishmania infection in the outskirts of the largest Brazilian cities?
abstract: A population survey was conducted to explore the prevalence and factors associated with Leishmania infection in the Fercal region of the Federal District. The Fercal region is a group of neighborhoods in Brasília in which the first cases of visceral leishmaniasis were described. Leishmania infection was established by a positive leishmanin test. Although other tests were performed in the study (an immunochromatographic assay (Kalazar detect(®)) and a molecular assay), only the leishmanin skin test provided sufficient results for the measurement of the disease prevalence. Data on the epidemiological, clinical and environmental characteristics of individuals were collected along with the diagnostic tests. After sampling and enrollment, seven hundred people from 2 to 14 years of age were included in the study. The prevalence of Leishmania infection was 33.28% (95% CI 29.87-36.84). The factors associated with Leishmania infection according to the multivariate analysis were age of more than seven years and the presence of opossums near the home. Age is a known factor associated with Leishmania infection; however, the presence of wild animals, as described, is an understudied factor. The presence of opossums, which are known reservoirs of Leishmania, in peri-urban areas could be the link between the rural and urban occurrence of visceral leishmaniasis in the outskirts of largest Brazilian cities, as suggested by previous studies.
authors: Núcleo de Medicina Tropical, Universidade de Brasília (UnB), Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, Brasília, DF, Brazil. Electronic address: rhasec@unb.br.
authors: César Omar
authors: CO
authors: Carranza-Tamayo
authors: Departamento de Epidemiologia, Instituto de Medicina Social, Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors: Guilherme Loureiro
authors: GL
authors: Werneck
authors: Núcleo de Medicina Tropical, Universidade de Brasília (UnB), Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, Brasília, DF, Brazil.
authors: Gustavo Adolfo Sierra
authors: GA
authors: Romero
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D058345:Asymptomatic Infections; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000469:parasitology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D008297:Male; D009893:Opossums / Q000469:parasitology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: Brazil; Didelphis albiventris; Leishmanin; Visceral leishmaniasis