Parasitology

Biography

Biography: Luiz Euribel Prestes Carneiro

Abstract

Brazil harbors about 90% of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Latin America and in addition, the disease is nationwide spreading. Located in the western of São Paulo state, the region is considered an emerging area of VL. The first case was described in 2005 and by 2014, from the 45 municipalities, 33 (73.3%) have reported the sandfly, 23 (51.1%) canine leishmaniasis and 17 (37.7%) human VL-392 human reported cases and 22 deaths. The Regional Hospital of Presidente Prudente is a public reference center for VL diagnosis and treatment. From 2006 to 2014, 352 patients with the average age of 28.5±25.5 years were diagnosed. Splenomegaly 98%, fever 95% and hepatomegaly 92%, were some general factors strongly associated with VL diagnosis. Children ≤18 years old represented 44.9% of the population. Individuals ≤4 years old (26.7%) and ≥65 years old (9.9%) formed the susceptible population. Twenty-one individuals died of the underlying or VL-associated causes. With a tropical climate, dry winters and wet summers, the region is one of the poorest of the state, consisting of dozens of small towns and villages. Local environmental factors including extensive sugarcane plantations, huge amount of watersheds flowing into three big rivers and nine big lakes may be involved as well as the overlapping possibility of VL and cutaneous leishmaniasis. Increase measures need to be addressed to complement curative practices. Otherwise in preventive, this region will be depicted to the framework of sustained endemic foci of VL in Brazil.