Investigations on Mediterranean kala azar. II.— Leishmania infantum

Abstract

The Leishman-Donovan bodies of L.infantum present no characters by which they can be distinguished from those of L.donovani, L. tropica or L.brasiliensis . In experimental animals they are either intracellular or lie in the fragments of dead cells. Individual L.-D. bodies may be distributed irregularly throughout the infected cells and their pseudopodia, each individual L.-D. body lying inside a definite vacuole, or they may be massed together in groups containing from 3 or 4 to 50 or 60 parasites. Each group of parasites is contained in a round or elliptical vacuole. In fixed or stained sections there is always a clear space between the wall of the vacuole and the periphery of the contained mass of parasites. These masses are formed by the ingestion of fragments of infected cells, for remnants of protoplasm of disintegrated cells can frequently be seen inside the vacuole. Presence of L.-D. bodies in the circulating Blood .—In Indian Kala Azar L.-D. bodies have often been demonstrated in the circulating blood. Patton (1914) showed their presence in 100 per cent. of a total of 84 cases by the examination of blood smears.