Visceral leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis in a patient infected with human immunodeficiency virus

• Main Authors: SILVA Eduardo Sérgio da, PACHECO Raquel Silva, GONTIJO Célia Maria Ferreira, CARVALHO Inácio Roberto, BRAZIL Reginaldo Peçanha
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de São Paulo 2002-01-01
• Series: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
• Subjects: Visceral leishmaniasis; Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis; Human immunodeficiency virus; PCR
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0036-46652002000300006

The current article reports the case of a 19-month-old-girl, from the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, with visceral leishmaniasis, by Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis, and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) co-infection. The child's mother and father, aged 22 and 27 years old, respectively, were both HIV positive. The child was admitted to the General Pediatric Center, in Belo Horizonte, presenting high fever, fatigue, weight loss and enlargement of liver and spleen. Indirect immunofluorescent test revealed a titer of 1:320 for Leishmania. Such result was confirmed by the presence of amastigotes in bone marrow aspirate samples and culture of promastigote forms. Parasites were identified as being Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis through PCR, using a L. braziliensis complex primer and a generic primer, followed by hibridization. Specific leishmaniasis therapy (Glucantime<FONT FACE=Symbol>Ò</FONT> antimonial) was intravenously administered.