Human Competence to Transmit Leishmania infantum to Lutzomyia longipalpis and the Influence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection.

Human Competence to Transmit Leishmania infantum to Lutzomyia longipalpis and the Influence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2017 Nov 06;: Authors: Ferreira GR, Castelo Branco Ribeiro JC, Meneses Filho A, de Jesus Cardoso Farias Pereira T, Parente DM, Pereira HF, Carlos da Silva J, Zacarias DA, Vieira da Silva L, Medeiros Faustino SK, Almeida Neto WS, Costa DL, Lopes de Mendonça I, Nery Costa CH Abstract Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) caused by Leishmania infantum is a lethal disease transmitted by sand flies. Although, considered a zoonosis with dogs held as the main reservoirs, humans are also sources of infection. Therefore, control policies currently focused on dog culling may need to consider that VL and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/VL patients may also be infectious, contributing to transmission. Reservoir competence of patients with VL without and with HIV infection and of persons asymptomatically infected with Leishmania was assessed by xenodiagnosis with the vector Lutzomyia longipalpis. Parasites in sand fly's guts were identified by using optical microscopy and by conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Leishmania infantum blood parasite burden was determined by quantitative PCR. Among the 61 participants, 27 (44%) infected sand flies as seen by microscopy or PCR. When infectiousness was assessed by microscopy, xenodiagnosis was positive in five (25%) patients not infected with HIV, w...
Source: The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Tags: Am J Trop Med Hyg Source Type: research