{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,21]],"date-time":"2026-10-21T13:08:59Z","timestamp":1792588139247,"version":"4.5.0"},"update-to":[{"DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0012783","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,24]],"date-time":"2025-01-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1737676800000}}],"reference-count":21,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,13]],"date-time":"2025-01-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1736726400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100014054","name":"Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100014054","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosntds.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS Negl Trop Dis"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p><jats:italic>Visceral leishmaniasis<\/jats:italic> (VL) also known as Kala-azar is one of the neglected tropical diseases (NTD) of public health importance. Despite being a disease of a long history, the condition remains poorly studied especially in East Africa. For instance, whereas, the geographical location of the disease is known, there is a stark paucity of data on the burden, risk factors and clinical outcomes of this condition in Northeastern Uganda. Therefore, the disease picture in these settings is incomplete. The overarching aim for this study was to describe pre-elimination prevalence, associated factors and treatment outcomes of VL in Moroto District.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>We conducted a cross-sectional study in which community cases were identified at baseline. They were followed up at Amudat Hospital Kala-azar Treatment Centre for the treatment outcomes. We used a customized data collection tool to elicit data on demographic characteristics, socio-economic and anthropometry. Data were entered on excel database and exported to Stata software for analyses. Proportions and measures of central tendency were computed. Binary associations were determined using Chi-square statistical test. In addition, variables independently associated with VL were determined via logistic regression analyses. At follow up stage, the outcomes were determined.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The overall prevalence of VL infection in Moroto district was 5.21% (95%CI: 3.15% - 8.48%) with varying county level prevalence at Matheniko, Tepeth and Mororo at 6.90%, 4.49% and 3.61%; respectively. The common risk factors for VL infection included lack of knowledge of habitat for Sand flies, AOR 5.33 (95%CI: 1.69\u201316.82). Patients with VL presented with fever, headache, abdominal pain and swelling, coughing, night sweats, diarrhea, fatigue, breathlessness, and nose bleeding. The average hospitalization for VL was 17 days. All the patients who were treated at the hospital cured.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The prevalence of VL in Moroto district was 5.21% and within elimination threshold. The high-risk factors for VL infection included lack of knowledge about the habitat for Sand flies. The average hospitalization for VL was 17 days.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0012783","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,13]],"date-time":"2025-01-13T19:08:36Z","timestamp":1736795316000},"page":"e0012783","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pntd.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Baseline infection prevalence, risk factors and treatment outcomes of visceral leishmaniasis in Northeastern Uganda: A cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-3055-851X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Patrick","family":"Sagaki","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jeremiah Mutwalante","family":"Twa-Twa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Posiano","family":"Mulalu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Benon","family":"Wanume","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peter","family":"Olupot-Olupot","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"pntd.0012783.ref001","unstructured":"World Health Organization, [WHO]: Leishmaniasis. 2023."},{"key":"pntd.0012783.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"601","DOI":"10.1186\/s13071-017-2530-9","article-title":"Variations in visceral leishmaniasis burden, mortality and the pathway to care within Bihar, India.","volume":"10","author":"S Jervis","year":"2017","journal-title":"Parasit. Vectors"},{"key":"pntd.0012783.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1186\/s13071-016-1743-7","article-title":"A review of visceral leishmaniasis during the conflict in South Sudan and the consequences for East African countries.","volume":"9","author":"W Al-Salem","year":"2016","journal-title":"Parasites and Vectors."},{"key":"pntd.0012783.ref004","first-page":"1","article-title":"Ministry of Health Uganda.","author":"HH Mwebesa","year":"2019","journal-title":"Guidel. diagnosis, Treat. Prev. Visc. leishmaniasis Uganda."},{"key":"pntd.0012783.ref005","article-title":"Mapping For the distribution of visceral leishmaniasis in karimoja region of Uganda using rk39 kits.","author":"MN Martin Mayanja","year":"2014"},{"key":"pntd.0012783.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"203","DOI":"10.4236\/ojepi.2013.34029","article-title":"Prevalence of kala-azar infection in Pokot county, Amudat district, Northeastern Uganda.","volume":"03","author":"WD Odoch","year":"2013","journal-title":"Open J. Epidemiol"},{"key":"pntd.0012783.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"489","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.15-0408","article-title":"Social and economic burden of human leishmaniasis","volume":"94","author":"I Okwor","year":"2016","journal-title":"Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg"},{"key":"pntd.0012783.ref008","first-page":"135","article-title":"Vulnerabilities to and the Socioeconomic and Psychosocial Impacts of the Leishmaniases","volume":"12","author":"G Grifferty","year":"2021","journal-title":"A Review. Res. Rep. Trop. Med"},{"key":"pntd.0012783.ref009","unstructured":"UBOS: Uganda Demographic and Health Survey 2016. Udhs. 625. 2016."},{"key":"pntd.0012783.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1186\/s12885-016-2469-9","article-title":"Patient navigation for colorectal cancer screening in deprived areas\u2013study protocol","volume":"16","author":"C Allary","year":"2016","journal-title":"BMC cancer"},{"key":"pntd.0012783.ref011","first-page":"42","article-title":"A Second Chance to Get Causal Inference Right","volume":"32","author":"MA Hern\u00e1n","year":"2019","journal-title":"A Classification of Data Science Tasks"},{"key":"pntd.0012783.ref012","unstructured":"UBOS: Uganda demographic and health survey 2016. Key indicators report. 2017."},{"key":"pntd.0012783.ref013","first-page":"861","article-title":"Sensitivity and Specificity of rK39-ICT and DAT for the Diagnosis of Visceral Leishmaniasis in an Endemic European Country (Spain).","author":"M Bangert"},{"key":"pntd.0012783.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"344","DOI":"10.1093\/ije\/dym275","article-title":"Risk factors of visceral leishmaniasis in East Africa: A case-control study in Pokot territory of Kenya and Uganda.","volume":"37","author":"JH Kolaczinski","year":"2008","journal-title":"Int. J. Epidemiol"},{"key":"pntd.0012783.ref015","first-page":"6","article-title":"Prevalence, features and risk factors for malaria co-infections amongst visceral leishmaniasis patients from Amudat hospital, Uganda.","author":"E van den Bogaart","year":"2012","journal-title":"PLoS Negl. Trop. Dis"},{"key":"pntd.0012783.ref016","first-page":"1","article-title":"Vector \/ Pathogen \/ Host Interaction, Transmission Vectorial Transmission of Malaria in Major Districts of C\u00f4te d \u2018 Ivoire.","volume":"57","author":"KF Assouho","year":"2020"},{"key":"pntd.0012783.ref017","first-page":"1","article-title":"Malaria Transmission and Prospects for Malaria Eradication: The Role of the Environment.","author":"MC Castro","year":"2017"},{"key":"pntd.0012783.ref018","first-page":"7","article-title":"Leishmaniasis worldwide and global estimates of its incidence.","author":"J Alvar","year":"2012","journal-title":"PLoS One."},{"key":"pntd.0012783.ref019","unstructured":"IBFAN: Food Security and Nutrition Assessment in Karamoja Sub-Region NAPAK DISTRICT REPORT. 2017."},{"key":"pntd.0012783.ref020","article-title":"Effectiveness of Insecticide Spraying and Culling of Dogs on the Incidence of Leishmania infantum Infection in Humans: A Cluster Randomized Trial in Teresina, Brazil.","volume":"8","author":"GL Werneck","year":"2014","journal-title":"Castro MC.PLoS Negl. Trop. Dis."},{"key":"pntd.0012783.ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1155\/2019\/3513957","article-title":"Visceral leishmaniasis treatment outcome and associated factors in northern Ethiopia","volume":"2019","author":"K Gidey","year":"2019","journal-title":"Biomed Res. Int"}],"updated-by":[{"DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0012783","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,24]],"date-time":"2025-01-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1737676800000}}],"container-title":["PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pntd.0012783","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,24]],"date-time":"2025-01-24T19:23:59Z","timestamp":1737746639000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pntd.0012783"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Shaden","family":"Kamhawi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,13]]},"references-count":21,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,13]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pntd.0012783","relation":{"new_version":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0012783","asserted-by":"object"}]},"ISSN":["1935-2735"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1935-2735","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,13]]}}}