It is important to realize that leishmaniasis guidelines cannot always account for individual variation among patients. They are not intended to supplant physician judgment with respect to particular patients or special clinical situations. The IDSA and ASTMH consider adherence to these guidelines to be voluntary, with the ultimate determinations regarding their application to be made by the physician in the light of each patient's individual circumstances.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Leishmaniasis: Clinical Practice Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH)

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Diagnosis and Treatment of Leishmaniasis: Clinical Practice Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH)*

Leishmaniasis – human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfection can manifest itself as tegumentary or visceral leishmaniasis. Almost 35 countries have reported autochthonous coinfections. Visceral leishmaniasis is more frequently described. However, usual and unusual manifestations of tegumentary leishmaniasis have been reported mainly in the Americas, but the real prevalence of Leishmania infection in HIV-infected patients is not clear. Regarding the clinical manifestations, there are some reports showing unusual manifestations in visceral leishmaniasis and tegumentary leishmaniasis in HIV-infected patients; yet, the usual manifestations are more frequent. Leishmaniasis diagnosis relies on clinical methods, but serological tests are used to diagnose visceral leishmaniasis despite them having a low sensitivity to tegumentary leishmaniasis. The search for the parasite is used to diagnose both visceral leishmaniasis and tegumentary leishmaniasis. Nevertheless, in HIV-infected patients, the sensitivity of serology is very low. Drugs available to treat leishmaniasis are more restricted and cause severe side effects. Furthermore, in HIV-infected patients, these side effects are more prominent and relapses and lethality are more recurrent. In this article, we discuss the current challenges of tegumentary leishmaniasis and visceral leishmaniasis–HIV infection, focusing mainly on the clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment of leishmaniasis.

https://www.dovepress.com/getfile.php?fileID=32840

Leishmaniasis–HIV coinfection: current challenges

Worldwide, an estimated 12 million people are infected with Leishmania spp. and an additional 350 million are at risk of infection. Leishmania are intracellular parasites that cause disease by suppressing macrophage microbicidal responses. Infection can remain asymptomatic or lead to a spectrum of diseases including cutaneous, mucocutaneous, and visceral leishmaniasis. Ultimately, the combination of both pathogen and host factors determines the outcome of infection. Leishmaniasis, as well as numerous other infectious diseases, exhibits sex-related differences that cannot be explained solely in terms of environmental exposure or healthcare access. Furthermore, transcriptomic evidence is revealing that biological sex is a variable impacting physiology, immune response, drug metabolism, and consequently, the progression of disease. Herein, we review the distribution, morbidity, and mortality among male and female leishmaniasis patients. Additionally, we discuss experimental findings and new avenues of research concerning sex-specific responses in cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis. The limitations of current therapies and the emergence of drug-resistant parasites underscore the need for new treatments that could harness the host immune response. As such, understanding the mechanisms driving the differential immune response and disease outcome of males versus females is a necessary step in the development of safer and more effective treatments against leishmaniasis.

https://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/jir/2019/4103819.pdf

Sex-Related Differences in Immune Response and Symptomatic Manifestations to Infection with Leishmania Species.

Clinical management of canine leishmaniosis versus human leishmaniasis due to Leishmania infantum: Putting “One Health” principles into practice

In Spain, Leishmania infantum is endemic, human visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis cases occurring both in the Peninsula, as well as in the Balearic Islands. We aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of leishmaniasis patients and the changes in the disease evolution after the introduction of antiretroviral therapy in 1997. In this descriptive study, we used Spanish Centralized Hospital Discharge Database for the hospitalized leishmaniasis cases between 1997 and 2011. We included in the analysis only the records having leishmaniasis as the first registered diagnosis and calculated the hospitalization rates. Disease trend was described taking into account the HIV status. Adjusted odds-ratio was used to estimate the association between clinical and socio-demographic factors and HIV co-infection. Of the total 8010 Leishmaniasis hospitalizations records, 3442 had leishmaniasis as first diagnosis; 2545/3442 (75.6%) were males and 2240/3442 (65.1%) aged between 14-65 years. Regarding disease forms, 2844/3442 (82.6%) of hospitalizations were due to visceral leishmaniasis (VL), while 118/3442 (3.4%) hospitalizations were cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). Overall, 1737/2844 of VL (61.1%) were HIV negatives. An overall increasing trend was observed for the records with leishmaniasis as first diagnosis (p=0.113). Non-HIV leishmaniasis increased during this time period (p=0.021) while leishmaniasis-HIV co-infection hospitalization revealed a slight descending trend (p=0.717). Leishmaniasis-HIV co-infection was significantly associated with male sex (aOR=1.6; 95% CI: 1.25-2.04), 16-64 years age group (aOR=17.4; 95%CI: 2.1-143.3), visceral leishmaniasis aOR=6.1 (95%CI: 3.27-11.28) and solid neoplasms 4.5 (95% CI: 1.65-12.04). The absence of HIV co-infection was associated with lymph/hematopoietic neoplasms (aOR=0.3; 95%CI:0.14-0.57), other immunodeficiency (aOR=0.04; 95% CI:0.01-0.32) and transplant (aOR=0.01; 95%CI:0.00-0.07). Our findings suggest a significant increase of hospitalization in the absence of HIV co-infection, with a predomination of VL. We consider that clinicians in Spain should be aware of leishmaniasis not only in the HIV population but also in non HIV patients, especially for those having immunosuppression as an associate condition.

/pdf/epidemiological-changes-in-leishmaniasis-in-spain-according-38rj26135d.pdf

Epidemiological changes in leishmaniasis in Spain according to hospitalization-based records, 1997-2011: raising awareness towards leishmaniasis in non-HIV patients.

Maria del sol Granados

Papers

Epidemiological changes in leishmaniasis in Spain according to hospitalization-based records, 1997-2011: raising awareness towards leishmaniasis in non-HIV patients.