J Med Microbiol NEW Faster Access
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplementary data
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
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 CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Mathur, P.
Right arrow Articles by Samanta, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Mathur, P.
Right arrow Articles by Samanta, P.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Mathur, P.
Right arrow Articles by Samanta, P.
J Med Microbiol 55 (2006), 919-922; DOI: 10.1099/jmm.0.46574-0
© 2006 Society for General Microbiology
ISSN 1473-5644

Visceral leishmaniasis/human immunodeficiency virus co-infection in India: the focus of two epidemics

Purva Mathur, J. C. Samantaray, Madhu Vajpayee and Palash Samanta

Division of Parasitology and HIV/Immunology, Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi – 110029, India

Correspondence
J. C. Samantaray
jsamantaray{at}yahoo.com
and jsamantaray{at}hotmail.com

Received 10 February 2006
Accepted 23 March 2006

India contributes heavily to the global burden of visceral leishmaniasis (VL, kala-azar) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS. The prevalence of HIV seropositivity in VL patients at a tertiary care centre in northern India, as observed during a prospective study over a period of 2 years, is presented. Of the 104 cases of VL/post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis, six (5.7 %) were found to be HIV positive, compared to 11 (5.5 %) seropositive for HIV of 198 patients with fever due to other causes. Four of the six (67 %) VL/HIV co-infected patients had a chronic/relapsing course, not responding to antileishmanial treatment. A CD4 T-cell count of <200 mm–3 was found in four of the five (80 %) co-infected patients in whom the test was done. Although the level of HIV/VL co-infection in the present study was lower than that of Mediterranean countries, there is a trend towards rising co-infection. The VL-endemic states of India have a huge population of migrant labourers, who work in high-HIV-prevalence states. The reported increase in the prevalence of HIV in the VL-endemic, populous states of India is a cause of grave concern, and co-infection may assume epidemic proportions in the coming decade if left unchecked.

Abbreviations: A/G ratio, albumin/globulin ratio; AIIMS, All India Institute of Medical Sciences; BM, bone marrow; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; LD body, Leishman–Donovan body; PKDL, post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis; VL, visceral leishmaniasis.

A map of the distribution of HIV and VL in India is available with the online version of this paper.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Clin. Microbiol. Rev.Home page
J. Alvar, P. Aparicio, A. Aseffa, M. Den Boer, C. Canavate, J.-P. Dedet, L. Gradoni, R. Ter Horst, R. Lopez-Velez, and J. Moreno
The Relationship between Leishmaniasis and AIDS: the Second 10 Years
Clin. Microbiol. Rev., April 1, 2008; 21(2): 334 - 359.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
INT J SYST EVOL MICROBIOL J MED MICROBIOL MICROBIOLOGY J GEN VIROL ALL SGM JOURNALS
Copyright © 2006 Society for General Microbiology.