[Visceral leishmaniasis. Pediatric case report]

Abstract

Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by obligate intracellular parasites of the genus Leishmania. There are three main clinical forms of leishmaniasis: cutaneous, visceral and mucocutaneous. It belongs to the diverse group of the tropical “neglected diseases” and is the only tropical vector-borne disease that has remained endemic to southern Europe for decades. Visceral leishmaniasis represents the most serious clinical syndrome. It is characterized by fever, weight loss, anemia and enlargement of the spleen and liver. Incubation period is usually from 2 weeks to 18 months. Leishmaniasis is considered a worldwide reemerging disease. Some of the factors that favor this situation are the changes in the climatic conditions, migrations and urbanizations deficient in environmental sanitation. We report an interesting case of an European child who was spending holidays in Cordoba and presented to our hospital with fever and pancytopenia, motivating a multidisciplinary approach with favorable clinical outcome.

Keywords: splenomegaly; visceral leishmaniasis.