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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.

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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

References

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