Antibody response to sand fly saliva is a marker of transmission intensity but not disease progression in dogs naturally infected with Leishmania infantum

Table 3 Relationships between the severity of canine infection with Leishmania infantum and the anti-saliva antibody response, measured at the time of sampling, approximately 2 months before patent infection, and against transmission intensity (log incidence)

Severity measure	n (samples)	n (dogs)	LRT χ²	P
Anti-saliva IgG at time of sampling
Anti-Leishmania IgG	206	58	7.11	0.0077
Parasites (bone marrow)	122	53	0.00	0.95
Parasites (ear skin)	80	40	0.03	0.86
Clinical score	195	58	0.00	0.97
Anti-saliva IgG prior to infection
Anti-Leishmania IgG	374	58	2.79	0.095
Parasites (bone marrow)	214	55	0.00	0.97
Parasites (ear skin)	152	47	1.09	0.30
Clinical score	361	58	0.02	0.90
Transmission intensity (log incidence)
Anti-Leishmania IgG	458	94	0.00	0.96
Parasites (bone marrow)	264	81	0.05	0.82
Parasites (ear skin)	184	63	1.51	0.22
Clinical score	439	92	1.04	0.31

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