AJTMH ASTMH MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION: astmh@astmh.org
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 57(1), 1997, pp. 75-78
Copyright © 1997 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Cascio, A.
Right arrow Articles by Titone, L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Cascio, A.
Right arrow Articles by Titone, L.

Epidemiologic Surveillance of Visceral Leishmaniasis in Sicily, Italy

Antonio Cascio, Luigi Gradoni, Francesco Scarlata, Marina Gramiccia, Salvatore Giordano, Rosario Russo, Aldo Scalone, Cesare Camma AND Lucina Titone
Istituto di Patologia Infettiva e Virologia, Universita di Palermo, Palermo, Italy; Laboratorio di Parassitologia, Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Rome, Italy; Istituto di Malattie Infettive, Universita di Catania, Catania, Italy; Istituto di Parassitologia Medica, Universita di Messina, Messina, Italy

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is endemic in Sicily. Although it is a notifiable disease, there is evidence that the actual number of cases is higher than that reported. In 1987, a regional reference center for active surveillance of VL was established and it recorded a total of 284 cases through 1995, a mean of 31.5 cases/year and about four-fold more than previously reported. Of the 284 cases, 150 (53%) were children (≤ 14 years of age), and of the 134 adults, 39 (29%) were coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The commonest viscerotropic zymodeme of Leishmania infantum, MON 1, was identified in 40 (93%) of 43 HIV-negative and eight (57%) of 14 HIV-positive patients. Among 280 patients evaluated (i.e., all HIV-negative and 35 of 39 HIV-positive subjects), 254 (91%) were treated with meglumine antimoniate alone or in combination with other drugs; 23 (8%) received allopurinol or amphotericin B, either conventional or in liposomal form; and three terminally ill patients were not treated. Among the 245 HIV-negative patients, 236 (96%) were successfully cured, while nine (4%) (seven adults) died during the course of antimonial treatment. None of the 35 HIV-positive patients was definitively cured, although mortality was apparently associated with other opportunistic infections.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J Antimicrob ChemotherHome page
A. Cascio, L. di Martino, P. Occorsio, R. Giacchino, S. Catania, A. R. Gigliotti, C. Aiassa, C. Iaria, S. Giordano, C. Colomba, et al.
A 6 day course of liposomal amphotericin B in the treatment of infantile visceral leishmaniasis: the Italian experience
J. Antimicrob. Chemother., July 1, 2004; 54(1): 217 - 220.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1997 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.