Recent Advances in the Treatment of Kala-Azar: B. B. Jha (ed)

Abstract

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a parasitic disease caused by leishmania donovani and transmitted by phlebotomus argentipes. VL is distributed worldwide and about 12 million people are estimated to be infected with about 5,00,000 new cases each year. Approximately 90% of the estimated new annual cases of visceral leishmaniasis occur in rural areas of India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sudan and Brazil. In India, Bihar contributes approximately 2,00,000-2,50,000 new cases per year and 28 out of 37 districts are endemic and nearly 67.5 million people are at risk of disease. Hence, a book on recent advances on treatment of VL is of great utility for practicing pediatrician and physician. The book starts with two letters of personal communication published in Indian Pediatrics followed by published and unpublished articles regarding treatment of VL. Then the book covers in detail about epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment along with recent advances. Recent advances on cytokines therapy, interferon therapy and targeted drug delivery system are widely covered and would be of immense help for postgraduate and undergraduate students too. The information provided on VL is more of review article in detail, compiled in book form from various text books. Tables and patients details in last 20 pages are probably useless as it reflects cases seen and managed by the author. It would be better to provide more information on complications encountered during treatment with their management protocol. There are innumerable grammatical and spelling mistakes (each page), which should be taken care in forthcoming edition of this book. In my suggestion, Index must be added at the end of this book. The book is handy, informative and would be beneficial to the pediatrician and physician, who treat kala-azar regularly.