Cutaneous leishmaniasis: advances in disease pathogenesis, diagnostics and therapeutics

Abstract

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is one of the most common tropical dermatoses worldwide and is of major public health importance. It is caused by numerous Leishmania protozoa species, which are responsible for its clinical diversity. With changes in vector (sandfly) habitat and increased travel among human populations, its incidence is rising, and in nonendemic countries, including the UK, it is increasingly diagnosed in migrants, returned travellers, and military personnel. Diagnostic tests have not always been sufficiently sensitive, and despite a wide range of treatments, poor therapeutic responses and adverse effects are common. In the past decade, there have been notable advances in molecular diagnostics, in the understanding of host immune responses to infection, and in new therapeutic interventions and vaccine development.