Authors
Lassina Sere, Thierry K Guiguemde, Fabienne Sanou, Arielle Belem, Nadine Ouedraogo, Bertille Ouedraogo, Marcel P Sawadogo, Achille Aouba
Published in
La Revue de medecine interne. Sep 24, 2026. Epub Sep 24, 2026.
Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis with Leishmania infantum (VL/LI) remains unreported in West Africa. We describe here an unprecedented autochthonous case of VL/LI in Burkina Faso, associated with myelitis.
A teenage girl was hospitalized for prolonged fever, flaccid paraplegia, severe pancytopenia, hepatosplenomegaly, and immobilization-related pulmonary embolism with pleural effusion. Immunological, hematological, and microbiological investigations, including tuberculosis, particularly on pleural, bone marrow fluids, and salivary gland biopsy were non-diagnostic. Spinal MRI revealed thoracic myelitis. Empirical anti-tuberculous and immunosuppressive drugs for sarcoidosis (methylprednisolone/adalimumab) were ineffective and favoured ulcero-necrotic cutaneous nodules emergence, prompting VL diagnostic, confirmed by LI PCR positivity on cutaneous and blood samples.
Although VL/LI is reported in local domestic dogs, this case provides the first documentation of human VL/LI in West Africa, endemic region for L. major, associated with a probable specific myelitis. This case is reminiscent of the exceptional involvements of central nervous system in the clinical spectrum of VL.
PMID:
42786020
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 25 Sep 2026.
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