Canine leishmaniasis is caused by Leishmania infantum (syn. L. chagasi, in America) and is transmitted by the bite of phlebotomine sand flies. Infected dogs constitute the main domestic reservoir of the parasite and play a key role in transmission to humans, in which the parasite produces visceral leishmaniasis. The increasing awareness that control of the human disease depends on effective control of canine leishmaniasis has promoted, in the last few years, research into leishmanial infection in dogs. Newly available specific reagents and molecular tools have been applied to the detailed investigation of canine leishmaniasis and important advances have been made in elucidating the epidemiology and pathology of the disease. These new findings have led to better understanding of the disease, and have also helped in the development of new diagnostic methods and control measures against the infection, such as insecticide-impregnated collars for dogs, new drugs and treatment protocols, and second generation vaccines, with the hope of not only reducing the heavy burden of the disease among dogs but also reducing the incidence of human visceral leishmaniasis.

No abstract

A study was carried out on the infectivity to sandflies of 16 dogs naturally parasitized by Leishmania infantum. All dogs were seropositive and the parasite had been isolated from all except one. They were divided into 3 clinical groups: 5 asymptomatic, 4 oligosymptomatic, and 7 polysymptomatic dogs. The dogs were exposed to female Phlebotomus perniciosus from a local colony and 7 d later the fed females were dissected in order to determine their rate of infection. There was wide variability of the percentage of fed and infected sandflies within each clinical group of dogs, with no significant difference between the 3 groups; the infectivity to sandflies was independent of the extent of symptoms in the dogs.

We hypothesize that clinical recognition rates for obstructive sleep apnea-hypoapnea syndrome (OSAHS) are influenced by comorbidity and demographic factors. Data on medical disorders, symptoms of sleep disorders, and cardiovascular risk factors gathered from 15,699 individuals in the Sleep Heart Health Study were compared. Participants were classified into three groups: those with a self-reported physician diagnosis of OSAHS, those with self-reported physician-diagnosed and -treated OSAHS, and those reporting both frequent snoring and daytime sleepiness (two-symptom group). Among all participants, 4.1% reported two symptoms (range across sites: 1.55 to 7.23%), whereas 1.6% reported a physician diagnosis of OSAHS (range: 0.66 to 2.88%) and 0.6% reported physician diagnosis and treatment (range: 0.11 to 0.88%). Recognized OSAHS groups were similar to the two-symptom group in age, having a sleeping partner, measured blood pressure, total cholesterol, and race. In a logistic model that included age along with characteristics found to vary significantly among the three groups (gender, body mass index [BMI], high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, hypertension), only male gender and BMI were increased in those with physician-diagnosed and -treated OSAHS. We conclude that disparities (especially in women and in those with lower BMI) exist between current recognition rates for OSAHS and the estimated prevalence by symptom report across the United States.