Visceral Leishmaniasis ( Kala Azar)
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Like cutaneous leishmaniasis, visceral leishmaniasis begins with the formation of a nodule at the site of inoculation but this lesion rarely ulcerates and usually disappears in a few weeks.
VISCERAL LEISHMANIASIS ( KALA AZAR)
Like cutaneous
leishmaniasis, visceral leishmaniasis begins with the formation of a nodule at
the site of inoculation but this lesion rarely ulcerates and usually disappears
in a few weeks. However, symptoms and signs of systemic disease such as
undulating fever, malaise, diarrhoea, organ enlargement and anaemia
subsequently develop. In more serious cases of visceral leishmaniasis the
parasites, which can resist the internal body temperature, invade internal
organs (liver, spleen, bone marrow and lymph nodes), where they occupy the
reticuloendothelial cells. The pathogenic mechanisms of the disease are not
fully understood, but enlargement occurs in those organs that exhibit marked
cellular alteration such as hyperplasia. Parasitized macrophages replace tissue
in the bone marrow. Patients with advanced disease are prone to superinfection
with other organisms which are predominantly bacterial.
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