Injecting drug use as risk factor for visceral leishmaniasis in AIDS patients

Abstract
In Madrid Region 6652 AIDS cases were diagnosed between 1982 and 1993. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) was present in 166 (2.49%). VL frequency among injecting drug users proved higher than that for the other transmission categories (relative risk 2.57; 95% confidence interval 1.64–4.01). This could point to an alternative Leishmania transmission route via needle sharing.