Name: Møller, Torsten Home Country: Denmark Research Country: Sudan Project Period: 1997-1999 Title Human Leishmania donovani infection: epidemiology and immunological predictors of the outcome of infection Abstract Visceral leishmaniasis is the most serious of the leishmaniases, a diverse group of vectorborn, parasitic diseases. The diseases are thought to occur in more than eighty countries, threatening the health and lives of hundreds of millions of people. Prevention, control, and ultimately eradication of the diseases will depend on the thorough understanding of the epidemiology and natural history of the infections. This thesis sought to contribute to this by elucidating aspects of the immunology and epidemiology of visceral leishmaniasis based on field studies and collection of sample materials in a village in Eastern Sudan. At the beginning of this Ph.D. study it was clear that the balance between Th1 and Th2 lymphocytes responding to Leishmania antigens play a crucial role in determining the outcome of Leishmania infections in mice. It was also clear that humans who had not been exposed to Leishmania parasites harboured Leishmania antigen reactive T cells with distinct cytokine production profiles. Based on these observations the present study was designed to evaluate whether the cytokine production profile in response to Leishmania antigens in supposedly unexposed individuals could predict whether a subsequent exposure to Leishmania parasites would lead to clinical disease or to subclinical infection. Detailed information about the epidemiological of visceral leishmaniasis in the study area was necessary to achieve this, and description of the epidemiology of the infection was consequently an objective of the study. Involved research institutions Centre for Medical Parasitology, Department of Infectious Diseases, Copenhagen University Hospital (Rigshospitalet), Indstitute of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Copenhagen Supervisor Thor Theander Correspondence