Risk Factors for Indian Kala-Azar

Abstract

A case-control study was conducted to understand the risk factors associated with kala-azar in disease-endemic areas of Bihar, India. A total of 134 kala-azar cases treated at the Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences in Patna and 406 healthy controls selected randomly from the neighborhoods of cases in their native villages were included in the study. Univariate analysis showed that education, a history of other diseases in the previous year, a history of kala-azar in the family, type of walls in houses, presence of a granary inside houses, presence of vegetation around houses, bamboo trees near houses, and irregular spraying around houses with DDT were risk factors. Multivariate analysis showed that a history of other diseases in the previous year (odds ratio [OR] = 3.6, P = 0.002), a history of kala-azar in the family (OR = 1.8, P = 0.03), mud-plastered walls in houses, (OR = 2.4, P = 0.0001], a granary inside houses (OR = 4.3, P = 0.0001), presence of bamboo trees around houses (OR = 2.3, P = 0.001), and houses not sprayed with DDT in the past six months (OR = 3.4, P = 0.0001) were significant risk factors for kala-azar. These results will be useful in developing kala-azar control programs for identifying intervention strategies such as better housing, regular and proper insecticide spraying, and promoting health awareness to the community residing in disease-endemic areas for reducing transmission and incidence of this disease.

Prevalence of visceral leishmaniasis, risk factors and associated disorders: Knowledge of inhabitants and professionals in Fulbaria, Mymensingh

“…No patient was found in houses made of brick wall and concrete floor (Table 5). Ranjan et al (2005) showed in a study that the use of mud for wall construction or for plastering walls was found to be significantly associated with kala-azar. In Fulbaria, total 94 patients out of 97 kala-azar patients had cattle shed in their houses and the prevalence was 96.91%.…”

Risk factors for Leishmania chagasi infection in an endemic area in Raposa, State of Maranhão, Brazil

“…Trees and plantations around the houses have been treated as a significant factor of Kala azar. According to Ranjan et al 28 , some trees are considered source of fructose for Phlebotomine sandflies and also produce dark and damp environments around the peripheral neighborhood, the ideal places of shelter for the mosquito.…”

Diagnosis of Leishmania (Leishmania) chagasi infection in dogs and the relationship with environmental and sanitary aspects in the municipality of Palmas, state of Tocantins, Brazil

“…In these locations, the disease follows an endemic behavior and may, eventually, even acquire epidemiologic status (Costa: unpublished data). Several studies have pointed, in detail, to a series of risk factors associated mainly to local socioeconomic conditions, which may determine the occurrence of L. (L.) chagasi in canine and human population, like precarious housing conditions that promote the development of the vector [31][32][33][34][35] , apart from the lack of elementary sanitation and the sporadic garbage collection, which furnish the ideal microenvironments for phlebotomine reproduction 5,36 . These risk factors were observed in all regions evaluated in the present study.…”