[Clinical and epidemiological features of Kala-Azar in children]

The author reviewed the records of 75 patients under thirteen years old, with Visceral Leishmaniasis, admitted in the public hospitals of Brasilia, during the period from January 1982 to June 1991. All children were referred to Brasília hospitals from other states of the country, and most of them from the rural areas of Bahia state. In 78.6% of the patients the diagnosis of Visceral Leishmaniasis was confirmed one to six months after the appearance of the first clinical sign of the disease. The clinical manifestations observed in this study were similar to those previously described in the literature. Moderate to severe malnutrition was present in half of the patients. The laboratory tests showed expected results for the disease. All patients were treated with N-methyl-glucamine, and this therapeutic was successful in 91.4% of the children. The complications more frequently seen were infections and hemorrhage. There were 7 deaths due to pneumonia with respiratory failure and digestive bleeding.