What is Leishmaniasis?
One of the major health problems in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world is Leishmaniasis. Leishmaniasis dates to 2,500 B.C. with several primitive descriptions found in ancient writings and manuscripts also from recent molecular findings of ancient archaeological material.
Parasitic vector-borne disease with multi-faceted clinical manifestations
It is a parasitic vector-borne disease with multi-faceted clinical manifestations both in the Old and the new world. The cause for the same are twenty Leishmanian species transmitted by the bite of female sandflies (of the genus Phlebotomous for the Old world Leishmania and Lutzomyin for the new world Leishmania). The usual hosts are humans, domestic and/or wild animals.
Hign mortality rate
This disease has a significant mortality rate both in developing and underdeveloped countries.
It is prevalent in more than 98 countries with about 800 sand fly species worldwide of which 98 have already been discovered as probable vectors for the disease’s transmission. 56 Lutzomyia species are found in the New World and 42 Phlebotomus in the Old World. 20 of 53 species are known to cause human pathogenesis transmitted by approximately 30 species of sand flies. This disease tends to occur in developing and under-developed countries and is also found to be associated with malnutrition, poor residency and sanitary conditions, and majorly due to compromised immune systems.
Huge number of cases
0.9-1.6 million cases occur each year with 310 million people are at a risk
The degree of morbidity and mortality caused by this infection is categorized into three clinical manifestations, that is, cutaneous (CL), mucocutaneous (MCL), and visceral (VL) leishmaniasis. It is also estimated that approximately 0.9-1.6 million cases occur each year in the endemic countries while 310 million people are at a risk of this infection (in general consist of all clinical manifestations) worldwide.