Table 1.

Study population of PKDL cases from districts of West Bengal and Jharkhand where kala-azar is endemic^*

Clinical features	Group 1, Week 0 (n = 157)	Group 2, Week 12 (n = 6)‡	Group 3, Week ≥36 (n = 42)§
Age in years†	22 (16.0–32.0)	19.50 (16.0–29.5)	23 (16.0–32.5)
Sex (males:females)	99:58 (1.7:1)	2:4 (1:2)	27:15 (1.8:1)
History of VL	92.36%	100%	97.6%
Lesion type (polymorphic:macular)	85:72 (1.18:1)	5:1	15:27 (1:1.8)
Lag period‖ in years†	4.0 (2.0–7.0)	7.0 (2.2–14.0)	8.0 (4.5–11.2)
PKDL duration¶ in years†	2 (1–5)	1 (1–2)	2 (1–3)
Parasite load (parasites/µg gDNA)†	10,769 (1,339–80,441)	1,525 (1–3,670)	1 (1–1)

gDNA = genomic DNA; PKDL = post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis; t/t = treatment; VL = visceral leishmaniasis.

^*The study population included 205 patients with PKDL that were subdivided into three groups depending on the time of presentation, group 1 being at disease presentation, group 2 being after completion of 12 weeks of treatment, and group 3 being at any time point at least 6 months after the end of treatment. The skin biopsy specimens were collected as described in Materials and Methods.

^† All values are in median (interquartile range).

^‡ Thirty-three patients entered the study in group 1.

^§ Twelve patients entered the study in group 1.

^‖ The lag period is the interval between cure of VL and onset of PKDL.

^¶ PKDL duration indicates the time from appearance of lesions to presentation at the medical camp.