Visceral Leishmaniasis Associated with HIV Coinfection in Pará, Brazil

Abstract

Raimundo Nonato Colares Camargo Júnior,1,* Jaciara Simone Sarmento Gomes,2,* Mônica Cristina Corrêa Carvalho,2,* Hipócrates de Menezes Chalkidis,2,* Welligton Conceição da Silva,1,* Juliana Sousa da Silva,3,* Samia Rubielle Silva de Castro,4,* Raul Cunha Lima Neto,4,* Victor Hugo Pereira Moutinho4,* 1Animal Science Graduate Program, Federal University of Pará (UFPA), Belém, Pará, Brazil; 2Department of Biological and Health Sciences, Amazon University Center (Unama), Santarém, Pará, Brazil; 3Postgraduate Program in Natural Resources of the Amazon, Federal University of Western Pará, Santarém, Pará, Brazil; 4Institute of Biodiversity and Forests, Federal University of Western Pará, Santarém, Pará, Brazil*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Raimundo Nonato Colares Camargo Júnior, Federal University of Pará (UFPA), R. Augusto Corrêa, 01 - Guamá, Belém, Pará, 66075-110, Brazil, Tel [phone]-9425, Fax [phone]-9425, Email [email protected]: Human visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a zoonosis of great importance to public health due to its epidemiological diversity, with emphasis on the possibility of aggravation by coinfection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).Objective: The aim was to study the epidemiological characteristics of VL cases associated with HIV coinfection in Pará. Methods. Reported cases of VL from January 2006 to December 2016 were investigated. A descriptive epidemiological method related to age, gender, area of residence and coinfection with HIV was used. To calculate variance and test equity, the F-test (Fisher) was performed. To observe the influence of one aspect on another, the chi-square was used to verify if there was dependence or independence between the variables.Results: A total of 1171 cases of VL were reported during the study period. There was an annual mean of LV of 94.9, with a statistical difference (p< 0.05) between age groups, with the highest number of cases being observed in children aged 1 to 4 years (27.16%). Males and the urban area had a higher number of cases. There were 57 cases of VL/HIV coinfection, with emphasis on the year 2013 and the municipality of Santarém, which had the highest number of cases. During the ten years studied, there was a correlation between coinfection VL/ HIV, with significant differences between patients with and without HIV who contracted VL (p< 0.001).Conclusion: The data reveal the endemic nature of VL in the region, with a high percentage of infection in children living in urban areas. Although the studied region is not identified as a predominant area of HIV cases, this study showed a high annual average (10.3) of cases of VL/HIV coinfection being the first time that cases of VL/HIV coinfection were reported in the Mesoregion of the Lower Amazon and Southwest Pará.Keywords: age group, male, children, analytical epidemiology

Keywords

• age group. male. children. analytical epidemiology