Low Sensitivity of Peripheral Blood Smear for Diagnosis of Subclinical Visceral Leishmaniasis in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1-Infected Patients

The peripheral blood smear is an easy method for the diagnosis of symptomatic visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-infected patients. However, its efficiency in diagnosing subclinical VL remains unknown. In this study, Leishmania amastigotes were seen in blood smears from 1 of 13 HIV-1-positive individuals with subclinical VL. This shows that this procedure is not suitable for subclinical-VL diagnosis.