Assessment of clinical and hematological alteration among visceral leishmaniasis patients attending Kahsay Abera and Mearg Hospitals, Western Tigrai, Northern Ethiopia, 2019
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Date
2019-06
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Addis Abeba University
Abstract
Background: Hematological abnormalities are common in visceral leishmaniasis patients, which
is one of the major public health problems worldwide. The most common hematological
abnormalities are anemia, leucopenia and thrombocytopenia.
Objective: To asses clinical and hematological alteration among visceral leishmaniasis patients
attending Kahsay Abera and Mearg Hospitals,Western Tigrai, Northern Ethiopia , 2019
Method: Institutional based comparative cross sectional study was conducted from November
2018 to March 2019 at Kahsay Abera and Mearg hospitals, Western Tigrai, Northern Ethiopia. A
total of 100 Visceral Leishmaniasis patients and 100 healthy control groups were included in this
study. Blood was collected and analyzed by sysmex KX-21N hematology analyzer. Data was
entered and analyzed using SPSS Version 23. Student independent t-test was used for data
analysis. P value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant at 95% confidence level.
Result: From the total 100 visceral leishmaniasis patients the following abnormalities were
reported: 96(96%) anemia, 95(95%) leucopenia, 92(92%) neutropenia, 73(73%) Lymphopenia,
45(45%) eosinopenia and 97(97%) had thrombocytopenia. Splenomegally and fever was seen in
all visceral leishimaniasis patients. Red blood cell, hemoglobin, hematocrit, red cell indices and
platelet were significantly lower (p<0.05) in visceral leishmaniasis patients compared with the
control groups. Similarly the total WBC, neutrophil, lymphocyte, eosinophil and basophil count
were significantly lower (p<0.05) in visceral leishmaniasis patients compared with the control
groups.
Conclusion: The principal changes in peripheral blood of patient with visceral Leishmaniasis are
reduced number of red blood cells, reduction in leukocytes and decreased platelet count. VL
patients presented with splenomegaly, fever, bleeding, anemia, leucopenia and
thrombocytopenia. This finding indicates that visceral leishmaniasis causes alterations of
hematological parameters.
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Keywords
Amastigote, Anemia, Hematological Parameters, Promastigote, Visceral leishmaniasis, Ethiopia