Pediatric visceral leishmaniasis in Albania: a retrospective analysis of 1,210 consecutive hospitalized patients (1995-2009).
BACKGROUND: Little information is available about infantile visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Albania as regards incidence, diagnosis and management of the disease. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Demographic data, clinical and laboratory features and therapeutic findings were considered in children ad...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:ac71b8862caf470b97dfc79e2282904f 2023-05-15T15:12:41+02:00 Pediatric visceral leishmaniasis in Albania: a retrospective analysis of 1,210 consecutive hospitalized patients (1995-2009). Raida Petrela Loreta Kuneshka Eli Foto Ferit Zavalani Luigi Gradoni 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000814 https://doaj.org/article/ac71b8862caf470b97dfc79e2282904f EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2935397?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000814 1935-2727 1935-2735 https://doaj.org/article/ac71b8862caf470b97dfc79e2282904f PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 4, Iss 9, p e1000337 (2010) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2010 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000814 2022-12-31T01:52:17Z BACKGROUND: Little information is available about infantile visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Albania as regards incidence, diagnosis and management of the disease. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Demographic data, clinical and laboratory features and therapeutic findings were considered in children admitted to University Hospital of Tirana from 1995 to 2009, and diagnosed as having VL. The diagnosis was based on bone-marrow microscopy/culture in 77.5% of patients, serology in 16.1%, and ex juvantibus in 6.4%. A total of 1,210 children were considered, of whom 74% came from urbanized areas. All patients were in the age range 0-14 years, with a median of 4 years. Hepatosplenomegaly was recorded in 100%, fever in 95.4% and moderate to severe anemia in 88% of cases. Concomitant conditions were frequent: 84% had bronchopneumonia; diarrhea was present in 27%, with acute manifestations in 5%; 3% had salmonellosis. First-line therapy was meglumine antimoniate for all patients, given at the standard Sb(v) dosage of 20 mg/kg/day for 21 to 28 days. Two children died under treatment, one of sepsis, the other of acute renal impairment. There were no cases of primary unresponsiveness to treatment, and only 8 (0.67%) relapsed within 6-12 months after therapy. These patients have been re-treated with liposomal amphotericin B, with successful cure. CONCLUSIONS: Visceral leishmaniasis in pediatric age is relatively frequent in Albania; therefore an improvement is warranted of a disease-specific surveillance system in this country, especially as regards diagnosis. Despite recent reports on decreased responses to antimonial drugs of patients with Mediterranean VL, meglumine antimoniate treatment appears to be still highly effective in Albania. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 4 9 e814 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Raida Petrela Loreta Kuneshka Eli Foto Ferit Zavalani Luigi Gradoni Pediatric visceral leishmaniasis in Albania: a retrospective analysis of 1,210 consecutive hospitalized patients (1995-2009). |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
BACKGROUND: Little information is available about infantile visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Albania as regards incidence, diagnosis and management of the disease. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Demographic data, clinical and laboratory features and therapeutic findings were considered in children admitted to University Hospital of Tirana from 1995 to 2009, and diagnosed as having VL. The diagnosis was based on bone-marrow microscopy/culture in 77.5% of patients, serology in 16.1%, and ex juvantibus in 6.4%. A total of 1,210 children were considered, of whom 74% came from urbanized areas. All patients were in the age range 0-14 years, with a median of 4 years. Hepatosplenomegaly was recorded in 100%, fever in 95.4% and moderate to severe anemia in 88% of cases. Concomitant conditions were frequent: 84% had bronchopneumonia; diarrhea was present in 27%, with acute manifestations in 5%; 3% had salmonellosis. First-line therapy was meglumine antimoniate for all patients, given at the standard Sb(v) dosage of 20 mg/kg/day for 21 to 28 days. Two children died under treatment, one of sepsis, the other of acute renal impairment. There were no cases of primary unresponsiveness to treatment, and only 8 (0.67%) relapsed within 6-12 months after therapy. These patients have been re-treated with liposomal amphotericin B, with successful cure. CONCLUSIONS: Visceral leishmaniasis in pediatric age is relatively frequent in Albania; therefore an improvement is warranted of a disease-specific surveillance system in this country, especially as regards diagnosis. Despite recent reports on decreased responses to antimonial drugs of patients with Mediterranean VL, meglumine antimoniate treatment appears to be still highly effective in Albania. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Raida Petrela Loreta Kuneshka Eli Foto Ferit Zavalani Luigi Gradoni |
author_facet |
Raida Petrela Loreta Kuneshka Eli Foto Ferit Zavalani Luigi Gradoni |
author_sort |
Raida Petrela |
title |
Pediatric visceral leishmaniasis in Albania: a retrospective analysis of 1,210 consecutive hospitalized patients (1995-2009). |
title_short |
Pediatric visceral leishmaniasis in Albania: a retrospective analysis of 1,210 consecutive hospitalized patients (1995-2009). |
title_full |
Pediatric visceral leishmaniasis in Albania: a retrospective analysis of 1,210 consecutive hospitalized patients (1995-2009). |
title_fullStr |
Pediatric visceral leishmaniasis in Albania: a retrospective analysis of 1,210 consecutive hospitalized patients (1995-2009). |
title_full_unstemmed |
Pediatric visceral leishmaniasis in Albania: a retrospective analysis of 1,210 consecutive hospitalized patients (1995-2009). |
title_sort |
pediatric visceral leishmaniasis in albania: a retrospective analysis of 1,210 consecutive hospitalized patients (1995-2009). |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000814 https://doaj.org/article/ac71b8862caf470b97dfc79e2282904f |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 4, Iss 9, p e1000337 (2010) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2935397?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000814 1935-2727 1935-2735 https://doaj.org/article/ac71b8862caf470b97dfc79e2282904f |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000814 |
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PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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4 |
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9 |
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e814 |
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