Parasite Plagues Subset of Iraq War Vets Latent visceral leishmaniasis can cause serious health issues

U.S. service members deployed to Iraq showed sign of having been infected with latent visceral leishmaniasis (VL) during their service, researchers said here. In one study, latent VL was identified in asymptomatic Operation Iraqi Freedom soldiers (10.2% of 88), potentially putting them at risk of activation of the disease if they're immunosuppressed, according to Edgie-Mark Co, DO, PhD, of the William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas. In another study, 20 veterans with asymptomatic latent VL had no active disease, although it was not clear how likely the condition was to resurface and cause serious health problems, reported Nate Copeland, MD, of the Clinical Trials Center at Walter Reed Army Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, and https://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/IDWeek/68416?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2017-10-10&eun=g721819d0r&pos=3