[Non invasive diagnostic tools for visceral leishmaniasis: a comparison of the immunoserological tests DAT, rK26 and rK39].

Introduction: Human visceral leishmaniasis is a serious public health problem in endemic countries because of its high potential lethality, particularly in children. Rapid diagnosis is essential to early treatment and control of visceral leishmaniasis.

Objective: The aim was to compare three serodiagnostic tools for human visceral leishmaniasis.

The direct agglutination test as an alternative method for the diagnosis of canine and human visceral leishmaniasis.

Introduction: Visceral leishmaniasis is the most severe clinical form of leishmaniasis and is often fatal without proper treatment. Therefore, early and accurate diagnosis is important, but often difficult in endemic areas.

Objective: The aim was to evaluate a direct agglutination test as a potential visceral leishmaniasis diagnostic method in endemic areas of Venezuela.

Treatment of diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis with miltefosine: a case report.

Background: A 31-year-old man who has suffered since age 3 from diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis (DCL), a disease with profound physical and psychosocial repercussions and no effective treatment at present, was treated with miltefosine.

Methods: The patient was treated for 120 days, 100 mg/day for 1 week, then 150 mg/day subsequently.

Results: Lesions were free of parasites at 43 days, and no signs of infiltration were present at day 76.

Therapy of Venezuelan patients with severe mucocutaneous or early lesions of diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis with a vaccine containing pasteurized Leishmania promastigotes and bacillus Calmette-Guerin: preliminary report.

Severe mucocutaneous (MCL) and diffuse (DCL) forms of American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) are infrequent in Venezuela. Chemotherapy produces only transitory remission in DCL, and occasional treatment failures are observed in MCL. We have evaluated therapy with an experimental vaccine in patients with severe leishmaniasis.

Epidemiological aspects of human and canine visceral leishmaniasis in Venezuela.

Objective: To report recent data on the distribution of human and canine visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Venezuela, and to highlight problems associated with effective control measures.

Methods: We report the number of cases, incidence rate, age and sex distribution, and mortality rates for human VL (HVL) for the period of 1995 through 2000, based on National Registry of Leishmaniasis data. We carried out serological studies on a total of 3 025 domestic dogs from the 12 states in Venezuela reporting cases of human VL in this 1995-2000 period and also from the state of Yaracuy, where cases were reported earlier during the decade of the 1990s.

Epidemiological and immunological aspects of human visceral leishmaniasis on Margarita Island, Venezuela.

Sixty-five patients were diagnosed with visceral leishmaniasis (VL) on Margarita Island in the decade from 1990 to1999; 86.2% were <= 3 years old. All were leishmanin-negative at diagnosis.