"Black fever" (Leishmaniasis, also called Kala-Azar) is generally not directly contagious person-to-person, but spreads via infected sand flies that bite animals or humans, with rare human-to-human transmission possible through blood transfusions or from mother to baby, making it a vector-borne disease, not a typical contact infection like a cold.
The black fever
There are different forms of leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease transmitted by the bite of a sand fly, barely visible to the human eye: visceral leishmaniasis (kala-azar), cutaneous leishmaniasis, and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis.
Leishmaniasis is not contagious, and it cannot be transmitted directly from person to person. However, people living in close proximity to each other may be exposed to the same sandfly vectors, increasing their risk of infection.
WHAT ARE SIGNS & SYMPTOMS OF KALA-AZAR?
The leishmaniases are a group of diseases caused by protozoan parasites from more than 20 Leishmania species. These parasites are transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected female phlebotomine sandfly, a tiny 2-3 mm long insect vector.
The first-line treatment for kala-azar in India is injectable liposomal amphotericin B 10mg/kg body weight and for PKDL, it is 12 weeks oral miltefosine adjusting the dosage according to age and weight of the patient.
Visceral leishmaniasis symptoms include:
The disease is now vanishingly rare in both the US and Europe, largely thanks to changes in lifestyles that prevent it from spreading to humans from infected fleas as easily. Even when it does occur, it can be relatively easily treated with antibiotics, saving lives.
Currently no vaccines have been licensed for use in the prevention of human leishmaniasis, though considerable progress has been made in recent years and it is generally accepted that a vaccine to prevent one or all forms of leishmaniasis would have considerable public health value.
Blackwater fever should be suspected in a malaria patient who is intermittently passing dark-red to black urine, and is diagnosed using a urine dipstick test, which will be positive for hemoglobin. Microscopy of urine will be negative for erythrocytes.
Pentavalent antimonial (SbV) compounds, including sodium stibogluconate (Pentostam®) and meglumine antimoniate (Glucantime), are the traditional mainstays for treating leishmaniasis since the 1940s.
Transmission. Leishmania parasites are transmitted through the bites of infected female phlebotomine sandflies, which feed on blood to produce eggs. Some 70 animal species, including humans, can be the source of Leishmania parasites.
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL)
VL often goes on to affect internal organs (especially the spleen, liver, and bone marrow) and can be life threatening. People with VL usually become sick within months (though it can be years) of the sand fly bite. If untreated, VL is typically deadly.
Communicability period
Not directly transmitted from reservoir to person, but infectious to sandflies as long as parasites remain in lesions in untreated cases, usually a few months to 2 years. Transmission is seasonal through adult sandflies.
Although licensed vaccines that are both safe and effective are still not available for human leishmaniasis, vaccination is still considered the most effective measure to control the disease [14]. The development of an antileishmanial vaccine is a highly promising goal and remains a global public health priority [15].
What are the symptoms of parasitic infections?
Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania. The parasite migrates to the internal organs such as the liver, spleen (hence "visceral"), and bone marrow, and, if left untreated, will almost always result in the death of the host.
🎉🌍 #Bangladesh has made history as the first country in the world to eliminate kala-azar (visceral leishmaniasis) as a public health problem!
Visceral leishmaniasis is caused by the parasites Leishmania donovani spices complex that can spread to internal organs and the disease is fatal with a fatality rate of nearly 100% if left untreated.
Necrotizing Fasciitis
This is a very dangerous bacterial skin infection that can kill the victim within a short period of time. It is popularly known as flesh eating bug because of its ability to speedily spread through the body and kill the body's soft tissue.
Both septicemic plague (blood infection) and pneumonic plague (lung infection) had a nearly 100% death rate if left untreated, with pneumonic plague being the most contagious form, spreading through airborne droplets and being rapidly fatal. Untreated bubonic plague (swollen lymph nodes) could also develop into these deadly forms, leading to high mortality.
The bubonic plague can be treated and cured with antibiotics. If you are diagnosed with bubonic plague, you'll be hospitalized and given antibiotics.
The disease takes several different forms, including the most common cutaneous leishmaniasis, which causes skin lesions, and the more severe visceral leishmaniasis (also known as kala azar), which affects internal organs such as the spleen, liver, and bone marrow.
Leishmaniasis is diagnosed by detecting Leishmania parasites (or DNA) in tissue specimens, such as from skin lesions (for CL) (see instructions), or from bone marrow (for VL). This can be done via light-microscopic examination of stained slides, molecular methods, and specialized culture techniques.
Atypical leishmaniasis should be considered in longstanding and painless lesions that may simulate erysipelas, dermatitis, verruca, herpes zoster, paronychia, and sporotrichosis.