Abstract
Background. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a systemic disease caused by the Leishmania donovani complex. It is one of the fatal diseases if left untreated. In Ethiopia, there are many VL endemic foci. The aim of this study was to determine the trends of VL in the study area. Methodology. A retrospective study was conducted at Addis Zemen health center from September 2005 to August 2011. Data were collected from laboratory registration book and entered and analyzed by using SPSS version 20 software and P value of ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. Result. A total of 7161 VL suspected cases were reported in the study area. The overall prevalence of VL was 2801 (39.1%). Of the 2801 VL positive cases, the highest annual prevalence, 988 (46.8%), was reported in 2005 but the trend gradually decreases. Majority of the VL confirmed cases were in the age groups of 5–14 years and males were more affected. Conclusion. The prevalence of VL in the study area was high in early 2005 but, gradually, the trend has been decreased and it becomes one of VL endemic foci in Ethiopia.
Highlights
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a systemic disease caused by the Leishmania donovani complex and it is fatal if left untreated [1]
Humans with VL or post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis provide the major reservoir for transmission; incomplete or irregular treatment of VL leads to drug pressure and parasite resistance
By using a convenience sampling technique, we reviewed a laboratory registration book which contains VL direct agglutination test (DAT) results with a cut of value 1 : 1600 from 2005 to 2011
Summary
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a systemic disease caused by the Leishmania donovani complex. It is one of the fatal diseases if left untreated. A total of 7161 VL suspected cases were reported in the study area. Of the 2801 VL positive cases, the highest annual prevalence, 988 (46.8%), was reported in 2005 but the trend gradually decreases. The prevalence of VL in the study area was high in early 2005 but, gradually, the trend has been decreased and it becomes one of VL endemic foci in Ethiopia. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a systemic disease caused by the Leishmania donovani complex and it is fatal if left untreated [1]. An effective life-long cellular immune response normally develops, and residual parasites are suppressed unless immunodeficiency is present [7]
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