Abstract
Although traditionally mostly confined to the endemic areas of Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, cutaneous leishmaniasis is increasingly seen in clinical practices in the Northern hemisphere due to the consequences of tourism and armed conflict. It is a group of diseases with a varied spectrum of clinical manifestations, ranging from small, benign cutaneous nodules to disfiguring mucosal tissue destruction. Caused by several Leishmania spp., cutaneous leishmaniasis is transmitted to human beings and animals by sandflies. Clinical diagnosis is difficult because diseases of other etiologies with a similar clinical spectrum are common in endemic areas. Hence, any clinical suspicion of cutaneous leishmaniasis should be confirmed by parasitological diagnosis. The standard treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis is still using pentavalent antimonials. Although effective, antimonials can have potentially severe side effects and, ideally, patients should be monitored closely while undergoing treatment. In recent years, several alternative treatment approaches have become available that could be considered when managing cutaneous leishmaniasis cases.
Disclaimer
The opinions and assertions expressed in this paper are those of the author and may not reflect the position of his employing organisation nor of his work’s sources of funding.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
R Reithinger has been a consultant to Thermosurgery Technologies Inc., received conference travel funds from Zentaris and was provided free miltefosine by Zentaris to carry out a clinical trial on its efficacy in Afghanistan. The author has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.