Infezione criptica da Leishmania Infantum in pazienti italiani con infezione da HIV

Cryptic Leishmania infantum infection in Italian HIV infected patients.

Abstract Background Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a protozoan diseases caused in Europe by Leishmania (L.) infantum. Asymptomatic Leishmania infection is more frequent than clinically apparent disease. Among HIV infected patients the risk of clinical VL is increased due to immunosuppression, which can reactivate a latent infection. The aims of our study were to assess the prevalence of asymptomatic L. infantum infection in HIV infected patients and to study a possible correlation between Leishmania parasitemia and HIV infection markers. Methods One hundred and forty-five HIV infected patients were screened for the presence of anti-Leishmania antibodies and L. infantum DNA in peripheral blo…