Abstract:
|
In 1997 a sudden outbreak of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) occurred in eastern Sudan, coinciding with an
increase of post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) cases which may in part be because of sylvatic
and anthroponotic transmission. Paradoxically, the more VL patients are treated, the higher the
frequency of PKDL. If PKDL plays a role in transmission, its treatment would be expected to reduce
infection in the area. Treatment of PKDL, however, requires four times the amount of Pentostam
used for treating VL, and the drug is both expensive and in short supply |