A 55-year-old woman was presented with fever, splenomegaly, generalized lymphadenopathy and weight loss. The patient came from Sreepur, an endemic region of Kala-azar in Bangladesh. About 2 years back, the patient presented with fever and splenomegaly and on investigation, ICT for Kala-azar was found positive. Thus the patient was diagnosed as a case of visceral Leishmaniasis and was treated wi...

In the recent past the standard treatment of kala-azar involved the use of pentavalent antimonials Sb(V). Because of progressive rise in treatment failure to Sb(V) was limited its use in the treatment program in the Indian subcontinent. Until now the mechanism of action of Sb(V) is not very clear. Recent studies indicated that both parasite and hosts contribute to the antimony efflux mechanism....

The rK39 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was compared with the direct agglutination test (DAT) for Leishmania donovani infection in the Sudan. rK39 ELISA proved more sensitive than DAT in diagnosis of kala-azar (93 and 80%, respectively); both tests may remain positive up to 24 months after treatment. For patients with post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis and individuals with subclinic...

Kala-azar, which was prevalent in the vast area of China that lies to the north of the Yangtze River from the 1920s to the 1950s, is now effectively under control as a result of strenuous intervention since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Apart from 15-20 new cases that occur annually in the Keshi plain, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, the achievements of control practised i...