Clinical and laboratory study of kala-azar in children in Nepal

Reports are scanty regarding kala-azar in children in Nepal, In this commun ication we document 20 children diagnosed to have kala-azar who were admitt ed and treated at B, P, Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal . The children were between 2 and 14 years old. The duration of illness var ied between 12 days and 24 months with a majority (65 per cent) of children being ill for less than 6 months. Hepatomegaly and splenomegaly were seen in 95 and 90 per cent of cases respectively. Splenomegaly was not found in two (10 per cent) children. Anaemia, leucopenia, and thrombocytopenia were seen in 95, 60, and 75 per cent of children respectively. Amastigotes of Le ishmania donovani (LD bodies) were demonstrated in Giemsa-stained smears of bone marrow aspirates in 16 (80 per cent) children. All the children respo nded to treatment with sodium stibogluconate, No mortality was observed. Th is study emphasizes the importance of kala-azar in children in endemic area s of eastern Nepal.