First report of an autochthonous human visceral leishmaniasis in a child from the South of Minas Gerais State, Brazil.

We present a case of a 12-year-old girl with a history of recurrent fever, anorexia, cachexia, chronic fatigue, weight loss, left palpebral unilateral edema, persistent cough and pancytopenia. A diagnosis of VL was performed using a reference immunochromatographic rapid test. Identification of the infecting protozoan was directly obtained by PCR of bone marrow. The patient responded favorably to treatment using liposomal amphotericin B. This is the first report of human visceral leishmaniasis in the city of Lavras in the South of Minas Gerais State. This first report of VL highlighted the need of maintenance of permanent surveillance and control programs in the city of Lavras, including the active search of sandflies, human and canine cases. The current situation of Lavras should also be taken as an alert to other near cities where favorable eco-epidemiological conditions may exist. PMID: 30570074 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de Sao Paulo - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Tags: Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo Source Type: research