Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine Film

Indian medical film about the parasitic disease kala azar

Kala azar (Hindi for ‘black fever’) - also known as visceral leishmaniasis - is a deadly disease caused by a parasite transmitted to humans in the bite of an infected female sandfly. Endemic in India, Nepal and Bangladesh, it lowers immunity, causes fever, anaemia, liver and spleen enlargement, and if left untreated, it kills. Filmed in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and rural areas across Bengal, this (possibly incomplete) film was produced by the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine and examines the treatment of the disease and the conditions that provide a happy home for the sandfly.