Visceral leishmaniasis: A worldwide disease

Though visceral leishmaniasis has been known to exist in Libya since the beginning of this century, only once a child with the disease has been reported in recent decades. Present report documents six children, aged 21/2 to 7 years, with the disease. Clustering of cases in Cerenaica area is indicated by the distribution of these cases. Duration of illness varied from 3 months to 11/2 years. Four patients presented with acute bacterial infection and one with a large hemangioma. All cases had hepatosplenomegaly and anemia; four had significant lymphadenopathy. Two cases registered marked improvement and three moderate improvement with sodium antimony gluconate/pentamidine isethionate. Five cases have been followed up for 6 months to 2 years and are doing well. One case showed only moderate response even after three courses of treatment. He required splenectomy for hypersplenism; post-operative splenic histology showed presence of a large number of LD bodies. he later died.