Characteristics of bacterial sepsis among patients with visceral leishmaniasis

ABSTRACT Sepsis is one of the major causes and predictors of death in patients with visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Globally, incidence rate of sepsis ranged from 56–91 cases per 100 000 people, with a mortality rate of 30%. Incidence of sepsis has been raised due to aging of the population and the higher incidence of immunosuppressive conditions such as HIV, VL and others. The prevalence of sepsis was reported from 4.2% to 32.3% and 14.1% in VL and VL-HIV coinfected patients, respectively. The mortality rate of VL patients with sepsis is greater than 50%. Factors associated with sepsis in VL patients are immune suppression, pancytopenia, HIV co-infection, age 40 years old, indwelling of central venous lines and hospitalization. Although antimicrobial susceptibility patterns were not well reported, both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria were isolated from patients with VL. So far, limited information is available on sepsis in VL, especially in VL-HIV coinfected patients. Therefore, further studies about sepsis prevalence, causative agents and their antibiotic patterns, and associated factors among VL and VL-HIV coinfected patients are necessary. This review provides information about bacterial sepsis in patients with VL.