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Visceral leishmaniasis and HIV in Tigray, Ethiopia
Author(s) -
Lyons Suzi,
Veeken Hans,
Long Jean
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-3156.2003.01088.x
Subject(s) - visceral leishmaniasis , medicine , case fatality rate , context (archaeology) , leishmaniasis , cohort , population , logistic regression , retrospective cohort study , tropical medicine , cohort study , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , epidemiology , mortality rate , demography , environmental health , immunology , pathology , geography , archaeology , sociology
Summary Objectives To identify characteristics that increased the risk of mortality in Ethiopian visceral leishmaniasis patients in a treatment programme managed by Médecins sans Frontières, in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Methods Retrospective review of a cohort of 791 patients treated for visceral leishmaniasis. Results The cohort displayed all the classical signs and symptoms of the disease. The case fatality rate was 18.5% (146) (95% CI: 15.8–21.3%). Logistic regression showed that individuals who experienced at least one episode of vomiting or haemorrhage were more likely to die than those who did not. A subcohort of individuals who tested human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)‐positive were more than four times more likely to die than those who tested HIV‐negative (OR 4.5, 95% CI: 1.8–11.4). Conclusion This study identifies characteristics associated with death in this population and highlights the devastating effect of co‐infection with visceral leishmaniasis and HIV in the African context.