Abstract
Introduction:
HIV coinfection presents a challenge for diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis. Invasive splenic or bone marrow aspiration with microscopic visualisation of Leishmania parasites remains the gold standard for diagnosis of VL in HIV patients. Furthermore, a test-of-cure by splenic or bone marrow aspiration is required as VL-HIV patients are at a high risk of treatment failure. However, there remain financial, implementation and safety costs to these invasive techniques which severely limit their use under field conditions.
Methods and analysis:
We aim to evaluate blood and skin qPCR, peripheral blood buffy coat smear microscopy and urine antigen ELISA as non- or minimally invasive alternatives for diagnosis and post treatment test-of-cure for visceral leishmaniasis in HIV co-infected patients in India, using a sample of 91 parasitologically confirmed symptomatic VL-HIV patients.
Ethics and dissemination:
Ethical approval for this study has been granted by The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, The Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, the University of Antwerp, and the Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Science in Patna. Any future publications will be published in open access journals.
CTRI Trial registration number: CTRI/2019/03/017908
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e042519 |
| Pages (from-to) | e042519 |
| Journal | BMJ Open |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 30 Apr 2021 |
Keywords
- HIV & AIDS
- molecular diagnostics
- parasitology
- thoracic medicine
- tropical medicine
