[Hematological profile of visceral leishmaniasis-about 264 cases]

ABSTRACT

Visceral leishmaniasis or Kala Azar is a systemic infection caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania It is exclusively transmitted by the bite of a female sand fly of the genus Phlebotomus. The objective of the present study is to define the haematological aspect of this parasitic infection. Material and methods: A retrospective study concerned 264 cases of visceral leishmaniasis diagnosed either in Parasitology and Mycology Laboratory of Children's Hospital in Rabat or in different areas of the kingdom but still under the supervision of the laboratory's experts during a period of thirty years. The children had a median age of 5 years with extremes from 6 months to 14 years and the overall male/female ratio was 1.08. In the hemogram, anemia was found in a proportion of 95.8% and it was really severe in about 19% [Hb<5g/dl]. The prevalence of neutropenia was 76%; hyperleucocytosis was observed only in 2.3% of cases due to concomitant infections. The proportion of children with thrombocytopenia was 64.28% and those with the severe one were about 13.2% [as clinical symptoms purpura, epistaxis]. The haematological profile is one of the important presumption criteria for the diagnosis of this disease