OSSSC Nursing Disease Guide

Communicable · Low priority

Kala-azar

Core disease facts with the linked government programme, prevention and treatment or cure reality.

TypeProtozoal parasitic disease — caused in India by Leishmania donovani.

Image-based identification

Bone-marrow smear showing Leishmania donovani bodies inside a macrophage
What to identifyKala-azar microscopy: intracellular amastigotes or Leishman–Donovan bodies lie inside macrophages; each has a nucleus and kinetoplast.Image credit: CDC / Dr L. L. Moore Jr — public domain

Government programmes, schemes and services

  • Programme: National Kala-Azar Elimination Programme: Sustains elimination through early diagnosis and complete free treatment, indoor residual spraying, vector surveillance and detection of post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis.
  • Service: Kala-azar Management Information System: Records cases, treatment and programme indicators in endemic areas for monitoring and follow-up.

Prevention

  • Prevent: Early case detection/treatment, Indoor Residual Spraying, sandfly control, surveillance and Post-Kala-azar Dermal Leishmaniasis detection

Treatment and cure reality

  • Treat: Curable with programme-approved antileishmanial treatment; free diagnosis and treatment are provided in endemic blocks.

Must remember

  • Vector: Transmitted by the female sandfly.
  • Clues: Prolonged fever, weight loss, massive splenomegaly, pancytopenia, and skin darkening.
  • Elimination definition: Fewer than 1 case per 10,000 population at block level.
  • Geography: The national programme concentrates on historically endemic eastern states; Odisha is not a principal endemic state, so detailed drug regimens are poor-return reading.