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. 2024 Jun 1;13:41. doi: 10.1186/s40249-024-01204-5

Table 7.

Presentation and management of incident visceral leishmaniasis cases diagnosed in public hospitals in Mainland Portugal in 2010–2020, by NUTS2 region of residence: Norte, Centro, Área Metropolitana de Lisboa, Alentejo and Algarve

Global Norte Centro AML Alentejo Algarve P-value
Number, n 194 37 36 79 18 24
Children under 5 years old, % (n) 18.9 20.6 17.4 16.7 35.3 13 0.449
(33/175) (7/34) (4/23) (13/78) (6/17) (3/23) (FET)
Immunosuppressed patients, % (n) 61.1 50.0 65.2 69.2 35.3 65.2 0.060
(107/175) (17/34) (15/23) (54/78) (6/17) (15/23) (χ 2 = 9.027, df = 4)
PLWH, % (n) 46.9 29.4 47.8 61.5 17.6 43.5 0.002
(82/175) (10/34) (11/23) (48/78) (3/17) (10/23) (χ 2 = 16.846, df = 4)
Median time from onset to presentation, weeks (IQI) 4.0 3.0 8.0 4.0 2.0 2.0 0.086
[1.5–11.0] [1.0–12.0] [2.5–17.0] [2.0–10.0] [1.0–4.0] [1.0–5.5] (H = 8.152, df = 4)
Department of consultation/ward, % ( n )
 Internal Medicine 43.5 34.6 35.3 33.3 62.5 85.0 < 0.001 (FET)
(57/131) (9/26) (6/17) (20/60) (5/8) (17/20)
 Infectious Diseases 51.1 46.2 58.8 66.7 25.0 15.0
(67/131) (12/26) (10/17) (40/60) (2/8) (3/20)
Hospital admission, % ( n ) 94.5 87.1 89.5 97.4 93.3 100 0.094
(155/164) (27/31) (17/19) (74/76) (14/15) (23/23) (FET)
 Median duration, days (IQI) 20.0 16.5 29.0 20.0 16.0 29.0 0.290
[12.0–36.0] [7.0–35.25] [13.0–41.0] [11.75–32.75] [11.0–23.0] [14.0–56.0] (H = 4.973, df = 4)
Median time from presentation to diagnosis, days (IQI) 10.0 12.0 8.0 8.0 15.0 20.0 0.004
[4.5–19.5] [2.5–26.5] [2.25–20.75] [4.0–15.0] [7.0–50.0] [8.0–60.0] (H = 15.413, df = 4)
Samples used (direct diagnosis), % ( n )
 Bone marrow 94.1 87.9 88.0 98.7 92.9 95.7 0.054
(160/170) (29/33) (22/25) (74/75) (13/14) (22/23) (FET)
 Blood 17.8 27.6 5.9 13.6 41.7 13.6 0.066
(26/146) (8/29) (1/17) (9/66) (5/12) (3/22) (FET)
Technique used in bone marrow sample, % ( n )
 Microscopy 95.6 92.6 91.7 95.9 100 100 0.609
(152/159) (25/27) (22/24) (70/73) (13/13) (22/22) (FET)
 PCR 41.6 39.3 43.5 44.6 76.9 10.0 0.004
(62/149) (11/28) (10/23) (29/65) (10/13) (2/20) (χ 2 = 15.234, df = 4)
 Culture 22.7 46.4 22.7 35.5 22.2 0 0.002
(32/141) (13/28) (5/22) (22/62) (2/9) (0/20) (FET)
Serology, % ( n ) 52.5 46.9 60.0 59.1 69.2 22.7 0.022
(83/158) (15/32) (15/25) (39/66) (9/13) (5/22) (χ 2 = 11.400, df = 4)
Samples sent to reference laboratory, % ( n ) 40.0 33.3 11.1 46.3 80.0 27.3 0.014
(50/125) (10/30) (1/9) (25/54) (8/10) (6/22) (FET)
Treatment of primary episode, % ( n )
 Median tme from diagnosis to treatment, days (IQI) 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.001
[0.0–1.0] [0.0–3.0] [0.0–2.5] [0.0–5.0] [0.0–1.75] [0.0–0.0] (H = 18.384, df = 4)
 Median duration of treatment, days (IQI) 21.0 21.0 21.0 21.0 21.0 21.0 0.954
[10.0–38.0] [10.0–38.0] [18.0–28.0] [10.0–38.0] [11.0–38.0] [10.0–38.0] (H = 0.681, df = 4)
Outcome of treatment, % ( n )
 Improvement at 7 days 88.6 80.8 76.5 91.4 100 91.3 0.176
(132/149) (21/26) (13/17) (64/70) (13/13) (21/23) (FET)
 Improvement at 30 days 96.4 96.2 92.9 98.5 90.9 95.7 0.306
(135/140) (25/26) (13/14) (65/66) (10/11) (22/23) (FET)
Follow-up in consultation, % ( n )
 Yes 93.3 100 81.3 91.5 92.9 100 0.880
(140/150) (26/26) (13/16) (65/71) (13/14) (23/23) (FET)
  Median time to first consultation, days (IQI) 15.5 12.0 21.5 12.0 13.0 30.0 0.004
[7.0–30.0] [7.0–28] [7.75–43.75] [5.5–27.0] [7.0–16.0] [18.0–55.0] (H = 15.318, df = 4)
  Cure test performed 16.9 28.6 0 16.1 10.0 17.4 0.236
(23/136) (8/28) (0/13) (10/62) (1/10) (4/23) (FET)

AML Área Metropolitana de Lisboa, IQI Interquartile interval, FET Fisher’s exact test, PCR Polymerase chain reaction, PLWH People living with HIV