Successful Treatment of Antimony-Resistant Visceral Leishmaniasis with Liposomal Amphotericin B (L-AmpB-LRC) in a Child

Abstract

Visceral leishmaniasis continues to be a major health problem in Bihar and West Bengal states of India. In Bihar almost 44 million people in 28 districts and in West Bengal 5.5 million people in eight districts are at risk of visceral leishmaniasis¹. Pentavalent antimonial (Sb^v) compounds are the first-line drugs, and amphotericin B is used when failure to respond to antimony occurs². We report the case of a 7-year-old boy with advanced antimony-resistant visceral leishmaniasis who was successfully treated by liposomal amphotericin B (L-AmpB-LRC) manufactured in our institute. This case report documents the efficacy of L-AmpB-LRC in such a patient and highlights the need for a longer duration of treatment.