How to Treat Leishmaniasis

Leishmaniasis is a group of parasitic diseases caused by protozoa of the Leishmania genus. About 20 pathogenic species in this genus infect mammals, with humans generally being incidental hosts. Leishmaniasis is transmitted to the mammalian host by sand flies of the genus Lutzomyia and Phlebotomus. These diseases are classified into cutaneous, mucocutaneous, visceral and viscerotropic forms. The following steps will show how to treat leishmaniasis.

Instructions

• 1

  Treat leishmaniasis definitively, except for cutaneous leishmaniasis which tends to resolve without treatment. Severe cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis may require treatment if the lesions become infected or slow to heal.

• 2

  Use pentavalent antimony compounds such as sodium stibogluconate or meglumine antimonite for cutaneous leishmaniasis. These treatments have cure rates in the 80 to 100 percent range.

• 3

  Administer AmBisome for visceral leishmaniasis. This is the only drug approved by the FDA for this form of the disease and it is also effective against infections resistant to pentavalent antimony compounds. A single dose has a 91 percent cure rate, but it may be too expensive for general treatment.

• 4

  Provide pentamidine on a larger scale where antimonial resistant leishmaniasis is endemic. Pentamidine is cheaper than Ambisome but is associated with persistent diabetes mellitus.

• 5

  Consider alternative therapies such as orofacial surgery for severe mucocutaneous leishmaniasis. Surgery should not be used for cutaneous leishmaniasis because of the potential for recurrence. Cryotherapy also has been used successfully on small, uncomplicated lesions from Old World species of Leishmania because they are temperature-sensitive.