Kala azar in an adult Libyan and review of visceral leishmaniasis in Libya
Jain, S.; el Mangoush, M.A.; el-Bouri, K.; Mahfouz, M.O.
Tropical and Geographical Medicine 42(3): 283-285
1990
ISSN/ISBN: 0041-3232 PMID: 2293439 Document Number: 352001
A short review of visceral leishmaniasis in Libya, and a case report of the disease in a 19-year-old Libyan male is presented. The patient had symptoms of weakness, malaise and night sweating for 6 months and was admitted to the El-Marj Hospital in Libya. There he was found to have anaemia and leukopenia. On examination he was found to be thinly built and very pale. His spleen and liver were enlarged up to 4 cm and 3 cm below the costal margin, respectively. Bone marrow study revealed hypercellularity with panmyelosis and macrophages loaded with Leishmania amastigotes. He received iron therapy and as no pentavalent antimony was available, a trivalent antimony preparation was given for 5 days and the patient left the hospital on his own without much improvement. He was readmitted after 50 days with huge splenomegaly and a further drop of leukocyte count to 1.4 x 109/litre. This time he was treated with sodium stibogluconate 10 mg/kg for 20 days. The patient improved markedly and was discharged. On follow-up for 15 months he was found clinically healthy with normal blood counts. During a small population survey in the area, no other case could be detected. It is reported that very little is known about the reservoir, vector, and sub-species of the parasite in Libya.