Emergence of coinfection with visceral Leishmania infantum in COVID-19 patients: a case‒control field study in an endemic area of visceral leishmaniasis in Iran
Abstract Background COVID-19 is a pandemic involving coinfection with other opportunistic microorganisms, including parasites such as Leishmania infantum. The present study aimed to determine the frequency of L. infantum infection and its role in disease and mortality among symptomatic COVID-19 pati...
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BMC
2024-12-01
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| Series: | BMC Infectious Diseases |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-024-10363-7 |
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| author | Selva Aminizadeh Behnam Mohammadi-Ghalehbin Mehdi Mohebali Homa Hajjaran Zabih Zarei Zahra Heidari Behnaz Akhondi Zahra Alizadeh Jafar Aghaei |
| author_facet | Selva Aminizadeh Behnam Mohammadi-Ghalehbin Mehdi Mohebali Homa Hajjaran Zabih Zarei Zahra Heidari Behnaz Akhondi Zahra Alizadeh Jafar Aghaei |
| author_sort | Selva Aminizadeh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background COVID-19 is a pandemic involving coinfection with other opportunistic microorganisms, including parasites such as Leishmania infantum. The present study aimed to determine the frequency of L. infantum infection and its role in disease and mortality among symptomatic COVID-19 patients in comparison with the non-COVID-19 control group in the endemic area of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Iran. Methods A total of 250 blood samples from hospitalized COVID-19 patients and 231 blood samples from non-COVID-19 patients as a control group were collected in Mashkin Shahr city, Iran from October 2020 to May 2021, and anti-Leishmania infantum antibodies were detected via direct agglutination test (DAT). For confirmation of non-COVID-19 samples as the control group, anti-COVID-19 IgG antibodies were measured via indirect ELISA. Additionally, demographic data, clinical data, and disease outcomes were recorded. Results Overall, 46 (18.4%) COVID-19 patients and 18 (7.8%) non-COVID-19 patients had anti-Leishmania infantum antibodies at titers of 1:200 or higher according to the DAT (p value $$\:<$$ 0.05). In the COVID-19 group, there was no statistically significant association between coinfection with L. infantum and sex, residency, treatment outcome, or symptoms. Conclusion The results of this study revealed that the overall seroprevalence of L. infantum infection among patients with COVID-19 was 2.66 times greater than that in the control group, which was statistically significant. It seems that L. infantum infection can be considered a risk factor for COVID-19, particularly in VL endemic areas. Clinical trial number Not applicable. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4634fde86cc44609ac3ed8655e58e87a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1471-2334 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Infectious Diseases |
| spelling | doaj-art-4634fde86cc44609ac3ed8655e58e87a2025-01-05T12:09:55ZengBMCBMC Infectious Diseases1471-23342024-12-012411710.1186/s12879-024-10363-7Emergence of coinfection with visceral Leishmania infantum in COVID-19 patients: a case‒control field study in an endemic area of visceral leishmaniasis in IranSelva Aminizadeh0Behnam Mohammadi-Ghalehbin1Mehdi Mohebali2Homa Hajjaran3Zabih Zarei4Zahra Heidari5Behnaz Akhondi6Zahra Alizadeh7Jafar Aghaei8Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical SciencesZoonoses Research Center, Ardabil University of Medical SciencesDepartment of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical SciencesZoonoses Research Center, Ardabil University of Medical SciencesDepartment of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical SciencesZoonoses Research Center, Ardabil University of Medical SciencesDepartment of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical SciencesDepartment of Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Medicine, Ardabil University of Medical SciencesZoonoses Research Center, Ardabil University of Medical SciencesAbstract Background COVID-19 is a pandemic involving coinfection with other opportunistic microorganisms, including parasites such as Leishmania infantum. The present study aimed to determine the frequency of L. infantum infection and its role in disease and mortality among symptomatic COVID-19 patients in comparison with the non-COVID-19 control group in the endemic area of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Iran. Methods A total of 250 blood samples from hospitalized COVID-19 patients and 231 blood samples from non-COVID-19 patients as a control group were collected in Mashkin Shahr city, Iran from October 2020 to May 2021, and anti-Leishmania infantum antibodies were detected via direct agglutination test (DAT). For confirmation of non-COVID-19 samples as the control group, anti-COVID-19 IgG antibodies were measured via indirect ELISA. Additionally, demographic data, clinical data, and disease outcomes were recorded. Results Overall, 46 (18.4%) COVID-19 patients and 18 (7.8%) non-COVID-19 patients had anti-Leishmania infantum antibodies at titers of 1:200 or higher according to the DAT (p value $$\:<$$ 0.05). In the COVID-19 group, there was no statistically significant association between coinfection with L. infantum and sex, residency, treatment outcome, or symptoms. Conclusion The results of this study revealed that the overall seroprevalence of L. infantum infection among patients with COVID-19 was 2.66 times greater than that in the control group, which was statistically significant. It seems that L. infantum infection can be considered a risk factor for COVID-19, particularly in VL endemic areas. Clinical trial number Not applicable.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-024-10363-7Leishmania infantumCOVID-19HumanIran |
| spellingShingle | Selva Aminizadeh Behnam Mohammadi-Ghalehbin Mehdi Mohebali Homa Hajjaran Zabih Zarei Zahra Heidari Behnaz Akhondi Zahra Alizadeh Jafar Aghaei Emergence of coinfection with visceral Leishmania infantum in COVID-19 patients: a case‒control field study in an endemic area of visceral leishmaniasis in Iran BMC Infectious Diseases Leishmania infantum COVID-19 Human Iran |
| title | Emergence of coinfection with visceral Leishmania infantum in COVID-19 patients: a case‒control field study in an endemic area of visceral leishmaniasis in Iran |
| title_full | Emergence of coinfection with visceral Leishmania infantum in COVID-19 patients: a case‒control field study in an endemic area of visceral leishmaniasis in Iran |
| title_fullStr | Emergence of coinfection with visceral Leishmania infantum in COVID-19 patients: a case‒control field study in an endemic area of visceral leishmaniasis in Iran |
| title_full_unstemmed | Emergence of coinfection with visceral Leishmania infantum in COVID-19 patients: a case‒control field study in an endemic area of visceral leishmaniasis in Iran |
| title_short | Emergence of coinfection with visceral Leishmania infantum in COVID-19 patients: a case‒control field study in an endemic area of visceral leishmaniasis in Iran |
| title_sort | emergence of coinfection with visceral leishmania infantum in covid 19 patients a case control field study in an endemic area of visceral leishmaniasis in iran |
| topic | Leishmania infantum COVID-19 Human Iran |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-024-10363-7 |
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