Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30357373›Full record

ArticleClinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America2019

Quantifying the Infectiousness of Post-Kala-Azar Dermal Leishmaniasis Toward Sand Flies.

Dinesh Mondal, Caryn Bern, Debashis Ghosh, Masud Rashid, Ricardo Molina, Rajashree Chowdhury, Rupen Nath, Prakash Ghosh, Lloyd A C Chapman, Abdul Alim and 2 more

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 98 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
98citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
15.2field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

98 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 137 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  5. Safety and immunogenicity of ChAd63-KH vaccine in post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis patients in Sudan.Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy · 2021
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  14. Leishmaniasis.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2025
    Review
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38 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors at 5 institutions in 5 countries.

Dinesh MondalInternational Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka.
Caryn BernDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine.
Debashis GhoshInternational Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka.
Masud RashidInternational Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka.
Ricardo MolinaWorld Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Leishmaniasis, Laboratory of Medical Entomology, National Centre for Microbiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
Rajashree ChowdhuryInternational Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka.
Rupen NathInternational Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka.
Prakash GhoshInternational Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka.
Lloyd A C ChapmanLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom.
Abdul AlimInternational Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka.
Graeme BilbeDrugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative, Geneva, Switzerland.
Jorge AlvarDrugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative, Geneva, Switzerland.
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research · BDDrugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative · CHInstituto de Salud Carlos III · ESLondon School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine · GBUniversity of California, San Francisco · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOn the Indian subcontinent, visceral leishmaniasis (VL) incidence is on track to reach elimination goals by 2020 in nearly all endemic districts. Although not included in official targets, previous data suggest post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) patients can act as an infection reservoir.

methodsWe conducted xenodiagnosis on 47 PKDL patients and 15 VL patients using laboratory-reared Phlebotomus argentipes. In direct xenodiagnosis, flies were allowed to feed on the patient's skin for 15 minutes. For indirect xenodiagnosis, flies were fed through a membrane on the patient's blood. Five days later, blood-fed flies were dissected and examined by microscopy and/or polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A 3-mm skin snip biopsy (PKDL) or venous blood (VL) was processed by quantitative PCR.

resultsTwenty-seven PKDL patients (57.4%) had positive results by direct and/or indirect xenodiagnosis. Direct was significantly more sensitive than indirect xenodiagnosis (55.3% vs 6.4%, P < .0001). Those with positive xenodiagnosis had median skin parasite loads >1 log10 unit higher than those with negative results (2.88 vs 1.66, P < .0001). In a multivariable model, parasite load, nodular lesions, and positive skin microscopy were significantly associated with positive xenodiagnosis. Blood parasite load was the strongest predictor for VL. Compared to VL, nodular PKDL was more likely and macular PKDL less likely to result in positive xenodiagnosis, but neither difference reached statistical significance.

conclusionsNodular and macular PKDL, and VL, can be infectious to sand flies. Active PKDL case detection and prompt treatment should be instituted and maintained as an integral part of VL control and elimination programs.

Indexed as

Disease ReservoirsDisease Transmission, InfectiousAdultAnimalsFemaleHumansInsect VectorsLeishmania donovaniLeishmaniasis, CutaneousLeishmaniasis, VisceralMaleMiddle AgedPsychodidaepost-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasistransmissionvisceral leishmaniasisxenodiagnosis

Identifiers

PMID30357373
PMCPMC6603265
OpenAlexW2898594666

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.