Seroepidemiologic study of asymptomatic visceral leishmaniasis among children living in rural areas of North and Central Khorasan, Iran

Mediterranean visceral Leishmaniasis (VL), so called kala-azar, is an endemic parasitic disease at Northeastern provinces of Iran. Several techniques are used for diagnosis of VL, but serology is less invasive. This study aimed to obtain the frequency of asymptomatic carriers of VL in endemic areas of North and Central Khorasan province, during 2015-2016.
This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 442 children residing in rural areas of North and Central Khorasan province. The data were collected including demographic information and field observation. Direct Agglutination Test (DAT) and rK39 test were performed to identify antibodies against Leishmania infantum. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.
DAT was positive in 23 (5.22%) of the children. The result of rK39 test showed that none of the participants suffering from acute stage of kala-azar. DAT test showed that there was a significant difference between the rate of Leishmania infection in two provinces (PAccording to the results obtained by DAT, the prevalence rate of asymptomatic VL is estimated to be 5%. The rate of VL infection is higher in the Northeast of Iran in comparison with other regions. The rate of asymptomatic VL is higher in the North Khorasan than Central Khorasan provinces. Despite the high sensitivity of rK39 test in diagnosis of VL, it is not appropriate for identifying asymptomatic VL, therefore, using DAT is recommended for diagnosis of asymptomatic VL.