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Leishmaniasis is a wide array of clinical manifestations caused by protozoal parasites of the Trypanosomatida genus Leishmania. [7] It is generally spread through the bite of phlebotomine sandflies , Phlebotomus and Lutzomyia , and occurs most frequently in the tropics and sub-tropics of Africa, Asia, the Americas, and southern Europe.
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar (Hindi: kālā āzār, "black sickness") [2] or "black fever", is the most severe form of leishmaniasis and, without proper diagnosis and treatment, is associated with high fatality. [3] Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania.
Cutaneous leishmaniasis is commonly characterized with skin lesions, which can appear localized, or throughout the body. While mucocutaneous leishmaniasis is characterized with ulcers around the skin, mouth, and nose. This form of Leishmaniasis has also been known to can spread by metastasis and can be deadly. [2]
Leishmania / l iː ʃ ˈ m eɪ n i ə,-ˈ m æ n-/ [1] is a parasitic protozoan, a single-celled organism of the genus Leishmania that is responsible for the disease leishmaniasis. [2] [3] [4] They are spread by sandflies of the genus Phlebotomus in the Old World, and of the genus Lutzomyia in the New World.
Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis is an especially disturbing form of cutaneous leishmaniasis, because it produces destructive and disfiguring lesions of the face. It is most often caused by Leishmania braziliensis, but cases caused by L. aethiopica have also been described. [10] Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis is very difficult to treat.
L. tropica causes a broad spectrum of leishmaniasis forms in humans. Most common is a variant called dry-type cutaneous leishmaniasis. After an incubation period lasting more than 2 months, a small brownish nodular lesion will appear with a slowly extending plaque reaching a size of 1–2 centimetres (0.39–0.79 in) after 6 months.
Kala azar (Visceral leishmaniasis) in India refers to the special circumstances of the disease kala azar as it exists in India. Kala azar is a major health problem in India with an estimated 146,700 new cases per year as of 2012. [ 1 ]
Treatment of Leishmaniasis caused by L. mexicana consists of pentavalent antimonials as Pentostam or Glucantime injected direct into the ulcer or Intramuscular. Prevention of L. mexicana infection is principally avoiding the bite of the infected sandfly.