Dear Sir,
In the 54th Congress of the Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine, held in Recife, Brazil, in September 2018, we received several questions regarding the alleged “endemic of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in the department of Beni (first subnational administrative level) in Bolivia” indicated in the publication of Garcia et al.1; unfortunately, this 2009 publication continues to confuse researchers and their current publications.2 We have six observations designed to clarify this area. 1) When describing the epidemiology of VL, the authors misstated the initial work of Desjeux et al.,3 which clearly indicated that the endemic of VL was in the department of La Paz. 2) The reported data were taken from the official normative documents of the Ministry of Health, written by the persons in charge of the leishmaniasis program (one national level and nine departmental levels)4; however, Garcia et al. described the reference as “anonymous.” 3) The report that 31,095 cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis reported in Bolivia between 1983 and 2006 by Garcia et al. is incorrect; the official national document which they referred to indicated 35,714 cases.4 4) Figure 1, which lacked references, was also taken from the official national publication.4 5) Figure 2 similarly had no references; the reported number of cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis was reported in the figure as < 1,000, when in fact 2,043 cases were reported. 6) In referring to “diagnosis,” once again the authors referenced a document as “anonymous,” when in fact, it had an author.5
REFERENCES
- 1.↑
Garcia AL, Parrado R, Rojas E, Delgado R, Dujardin JC, Reithinger R, 2009. Leishmaniases in Bolivia: comprehensive review and current status. Am J Trop Med Hyg 80: 704–711.
- 2.↑
Falcão de Oliveira E, Galati EAB, Oliveira AG, Rangel EF, Carvalho BM, 2018. Ecological niche modelling and predicted geographic distribution of Lutzomyia cruzi, vector of Leishmania infantum in South America. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 12: e0006684.
- 3.↑
Desjeux P, Aranda E, Aliaga O, Mollinedo S, 1983. Human visceral leishmaniasis in Bolivia: first proven autochthonous case from “Los Yungas”. Trans R SocTrop Med Hyg 77: 851–852.
- 4.↑
Mollinedo S, Monasterios H, Magne M, Vallejos E, Velarde J, Chuquimia G, Parra R, Ayllon J, Surriabre N, Muñoz B, 2007. Leishmaniasis. Guía operativa para el control en Bolivia. Serie: Documentos Técnico-Normativos. La Paz, Bolivia: Ministerio de Salud. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/../277311188_Leishmaniasis_-_Guia_Operativa_para_el. Accessed November 2018.
- 5.↑
Mollinedo S, 1998. Manual de Procedimientos de Laboratorio para el Diagnostico de la Leishmaniosis. La Paz, Bolivia: Ministerio de Salud y Prevención Social.