First identification of a species of Leishmania causing visceral leishmaniasis in the Sultanate of Oman, in a patient with AIDS

• Published in: Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Vol. 92; no. 3; pp. 356 - 357
• Main Authors: Scrimgeour, E.M., Barker, D.C., Al-waily, A., Idris, M., Lambson, B., Nirmala, V., Windsor, J.J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01-05-1998; Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; Elsevier
• Subjects: acquired immune deficiency syndrome; AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections - parasitology; AIDS/HIV; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; case report; co-infection; HIV Seropositivity; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Immunodeficiencies; Immunodeficiencies. Immunoglobulinopathies; Immunopathology; Leishmania donovani - isolation & purification; Leishmania donovani sensu lato; Leishmania infantum; leishmaniasis; Leishmaniasis, Visceral - parasitology; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Oman; Tropical medicine; Asia; Oman; Leishmania infantum; Leishmania donovani sensu lato; co-infection; human immunodeficiency virus; case report; leishmaniasis; acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Oman; Kinetoplastida; Human; Protozoa; Opportunistic infection; Protozoal disease; Leishmania donovani; Kala azar; AIDS; Leishmaniasis; Parasitosis; Infection; Case study; Viral disease
• ISSN: 0035-9203; 1878-3503
• DOI: 10.1016/S0035-9203(98)91042-2

Cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis (CL, VL) occur sporadically in Oman, but until now the causative species of Leishmania has not been identified in either case, although L. infantum has been suspected to cause VL; neither the sandfly vector nor the animal reservoir have been established. VL principally affects children living in the foothills of the northern mountains, and it also occurs in the southern Dhofar province of Oman. Between 1992 and 1996, the annual incidence varied between 14 and 40 cases with a trend indicating a modest rise in incidence. In 1997, 31 cases were reported (unpublished data). In Oman, the diagnosis of VL is usually confirmed by histopathological examination of bone marrow, or supported by serological studies or, alternatively, by response to treatment. Until now, repeated efforts in our laboratory to culture Leishmania from marrow aspirates or buffy coat preparations, inoculated in a variety of media, have been unsuccessful.