Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2005 Jul;2(7):e211.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0020211. Epub 2005 Jul 26.

Visceral leishmaniasis: new health tools are needed

Asrat Hailu  1 , Ahmed Mudawi Musa, Catherine Royce, Monique Wasunna
Affiliations
Review

Visceral leishmaniasis: new health tools are needed

Asrat Hailu et al. PLoS Med. 2005 Jul.

Abstract

Half a million new cases of visceral leishmaniasis occur each year, and 10% of these are fatal. New tools are urgently needed for mapping, diagnosing, and treating the disease.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors are all members of the Leishmaniasis East Africa Platform and are currently engaged in the clinical development of paromomycin for treatment of visceral leishmaniasis. Paromomycin is manufactured as a low-cost generic drug by Grand Pharma, Hyderabad, India, and distributed by International Dispensary Association, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative is a not-for-profit foundation, as is the International Dispensary Association. None of the authors has any financial interest in Grand Pharma.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Female Phlebotomus sp. Sandfly
(Photo: WHO/CDC)
Figure 2
Figure 2. The Life Cycle of Leishmania spp., the Causal Agents of Leishmaniasis
Leishmaniasis is transmitted by the bite of female phlebotomine sandflies. The sandflies inject the infective stage, promastigotes, during blood meals (1). Promastigotes that reach the puncture wound are phagocytized by macrophages (2) and transform into amastigotes (3). Amastigotes multiply in infected cells and affect different tissues, depending in part on the Leishmania species (4). This originates the clinical manifestations of leishmaniasis. Sandflies become infected during blood meals on an infected host when they ingest macrophages infected with amastigotes (5 and 6). In the sandfly's midgut, the parasites differentiate into promastigotes (7), which multiply and migrate to the proboscis (8). (Illustration: CDC/Alexander J da Silva/Melanie Moser)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Boelaert M, Criel B, Leeuwenburg J, Damme van W, Le Ray D, et al. Visceral leishmaniasis control: A public health perspective. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2000;94:465–471. - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization. Magnitude of the problem. 2005 Available: http://www.who.int/leishmaniasis/burden/magnitude/burden_magnitude/en/in.... Accessed 31 May 2005.
    1. Elnaiem DA, Schorscher J, Bendall A, Obsomer V, Osman ME, et al. Risk mapping of visceral leishmaniasis: The role of local variation in rainfall and altitude on the presence and incidence of kala-azar in eastern Sudan. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2003;68:10–17. - PubMed
    1. Gebre-Michael T, Malone JB, Balkew M, Ali A, Berhe N, et al. Mapping the potential distribution of Phlebotomus martini and P.orientalis (Diptera: Psychodidae), vectors of kala-azar in East Africa by use of geographic information systems. Acta Trop. 2004;90:73–86. - PubMed
    1. Gramiccia M, Bettini S, Gradoni L, Ciarmoli P, Verrilli ML, et al. Leishmaniasis in Sardinia. 5. Leishmanin reaction in the human population of a focus of low endemicity of canine leishmaniasis. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1990;84:371–374. - PubMed

Substances