Leishmaniasis

Question: Does any one know a treatment for Leishmaniasis? I worked as a DOD contractor for 13 months in IRAQ. Both of my forearms have sores that appear for several weeks then go away then return again. They are from my wrist to my elbow, the only part of me that was not covered.I am sure it is Leishmaniasis from the sand fly bites I got. Does anyone know a treatment for Leishmaniasis? I have no insurance and can't seem to find any help.

Answer: Treatment There are two common therapies containing antimony, meglumine antimoniate (Glucantim®) and sodium stibogluconate (Pentostam®). It is not completely understood how these drugs act against the parasite; they may disrupt its energy production or trypanothione metabolism. Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, the parasite has become resistant to antimony and for visceral or mucocutaneous leishmaniasis,[1] amphotericin is now the treatment of choice. Failure of AmBisome® to treat visceral leishmaniasis (Leishmania donovani) has been reported in Sudan,[2] but this failure may be related to host factors such as co-infection with HIV or tuberculosis rather than parasite resistance. Miltefosine (Impavido®), is a new drug for visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis. The cure rate of miltefosine in phase III clinical trials is 95%; Studies in Ethiopia show that is also effective in Africa. In HIV immunosuppressed people who are coinfected with leishmaniasis it has shown that even in resistant cases 2/3 of the people responded to this new treatment. Clinical trials in Colombia showed a high efficacy for cutaneous leishmaniasis. In mucocutaneous cases caused by L.brasiliensis it has shown to be more effective than other drugs. Miltefosine received approval by the Indian regulatory authorities in 2002 and in Germany in 2004. In 2005 it received the first approval for cutaneous leishmaniasis in Colombia. Miltefosine is also currently being investigated as treatment for mucocutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. braziliensis in Colombia,[1] and preliminary results are very promising. It is now registered in many countries and is the first orally administered breakthrough therapy for visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis.[3](More, et al, 2003). In October 2006 it received orphan drug status from the US Food and Drug administration. The drug is generally better tolerated than other drugs. Main side effects are gastrointetinal disturbance in the 1-2 days of treatment which does not affect the efficacy. Because it is available as an oral formulation, the expense and inconvenience of hospitalisation is avoided, which makes it an attractive alternative. The Institute for OneWorld Health has developed paromomycin, results with which led to its approval as an orphan drug. The Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative is also actively facilitating the search for novel therapeutics. Drug-resistant leishmaniasis may respond to immunotherapy (inoculation with parasite antigens plus an adjuvant) which aims to stimulate the body's own immune system to kill the parasite.[4] Several potential vaccines are being developed, under pressure from the World Health Organization, but as of 2006 none is available. The team at the Laboratory for Organic Chemistry at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich are trying to design a carbohydrate-based vaccine [6]. The genome of the parasite Leishmania major has been sequenced,[5] possibly allowing for identification of proteins that are used by the pathogen but not by humans; these proteins are potential targets for drug treatments

Question: How to differentiate different species of leishmaniasis.? There is a difference in their life cylces that L.donovani parasite usually live in the reticuloendothelial cells of the visceral organs and L. tropica lives in the skin. but i don't know the structural difference between them.

Answer: Here is some information for you - but it is way to much to copy to here because I'm not sure exacty how much you need to know so I think it would be best if you read it for yourself :-) The first link is for the L.Donavani parasite and its life cylce (visceral leishmaniasis) http://www.answers.com/topic/visceral-le… This next one is on cutaneous leishmaniasis... which is L. tropica http://www.answers.com/topic/cutaneous-l… Hope this helps you out :-)

Question: What is the cure for leishmaniasis? Is it cureable, how do you find a compentent physician

Answer: From wiki: There are two common therapies containing antimony (known as pentavalent antimonials), meglumine antimoniate (Glucantim®) and sodium stibogluconate (Pentostam®). It is not completely understood how these drugs act against the parasite; they may disrupt its energy production or trypanothione metabolism. Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, the parasite has become resistant to antimony and for visceral or mucocutaneous leishmaniasis,[2] but the level of resistance varies according to species.[3] Amphotericin is now the treatment of choice[4]; failure of AmBisome® to treat visceral leishmaniasis (Leishmania donovani) has been reported in Sudan,[5] but this failure may be related to host factors such as co-infection with HIV or tuberculosis rather than parasite resistance. Miltefosine (Impavido®), is a new drug for visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis. The cure rate of miltefosine in phase III clinical trials is 95%; Studies in Ethiopia show that is also effective in Africa. In HIV immunosuppressed people who are coinfected with leishmaniasis it has shown that even in resistant cases 2/3 of the people responded to this new treatment. Clinical trials in Colombia showed a high efficacy for cutaneous leishmaniasis. In mucocutaneous cases caused by L.brasiliensis it has shown to be more effective than other drugs. Miltefosine received approval by the Indian regulatory authorities in 2002 and in Germany in 2004. In 2005 it received the first approval for cutaneous leishmaniasis in Colombia. Miltefosine is also currently being investigated as treatment for mucocutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. braziliensis in Colombia,[2] and preliminary results are very promising. It is now registered in many countries and is the first orally administered breakthrough therapy for visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis.[6](More, et al, 2003). In October 2006 it received orphan drug status from the US Food and Drug administration. The drug is generally better tolerated than other drugs. Main side effects are gastrointetinal disturbance in the 1-2 days of treatment which does not affect the efficacy. Because it is available as an oral formulation, the expense and inconvenience of hospitalisation is avoided, which makes it an attractive alternative. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leishmaniasis#Treatment

Question: What is leishmaniasis? and how do i get checked? Can i die from it?

Answer: go to this website : http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/leishmania/factsht_leishmania.htm It has alot of info, and from what I've read you won't die from it. Just get it treated. Hope I helped a little!

Question: what is the most recent method of diagnosis of leishmaniasis in animals?

Answer: Question and Answer in Spanish.

Question: Leishmaniasis (medical)? I am allergic to sand flies and recently i heard about Leishmaniasis, but I cannot find any good information on it. Does anyone know websites? or are there any Doctors who could explain a little more? I became allergic to sand flies 2007 after being biten when in Grenada (west indies), last year i was biten in Florida and i had the same allergic reaction. I have noticed an ulcer that i have had for a couple of months

Answer: It is a nasty disorder passed on by sandflies. Mostly it is a disease of the developing world, india, pakistan and south america. It can leave some skin scarring as well as causing massively swollen spleen and fever. Using a good insect repellant will protect you

Question: My dog may have Canine Leishmaniasis. HELP! need info.? I am currently waiting for the test results but it will be another 3 weeks. I have a problem with the language as I am in Italy and it's not really clear. I got info from the internet but I want to know - If he has it what will I be in store for? Is he going to die from this??? Or can he live in good health with treatment? Please help!

Answer: Leishmaniasis is a fatal disease for the dog if not treated. The treatment (as for malaria in man), can only reduce the importance of crisis, because the parasite stays alive in the different organs. No treatment is able to get rid of it, and there is no vaccine either. Consequently the dog will stay a potential source of dissemination of the parasite during his whole life. There will always be a high number of infected phlebotomes around him. Euthanasy of affected dogs is sometimes proposed, but its interest is controversial because the dog is probably not the only one source of leishmania. Generally, the treatment consists in series of injections of GlucantimeND, dispatched over several weeks, and renewed at each recurrent crisis. Thanks to this treatment, the life expectancy of affected dogs is considerably lengthened. Prognosis depends on the precocity of the diagnosis, on the nature of lesions that are observed, and on eventual immunitary complications. On another site they said that Canine leishmaniasis is resistant to therapy. Most clinicians feel that the dog never will eliminate the infection and that retreatment will be necessary. The drugs of choice arepentavalent antimonials. It should be remembered that leishmaniasis is a public health concern (zoonotic) and care should be taken in both handling and treating canine cases.

Question: Would high alcohol levels kill paristites in the body? If a person had a parisitic disease such as leishmaniasis, or malaria, would getting drunk kill some of these parisites? I'm not claiming this is a cure because i understand that parisites go through a cycle and it may only kill some of them.

Answer: At levels when alcohol kills bacteria,virus or parasites in blood the person also dies.

Question: Is Leishmaniasis curable?

Answer: Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease spread by the bite of the sandfly. The disease is called Kala-azar and can indeed be fatal! It presents with d+vs and then fatigue it may also present with destructive skin lesions. Antimony-containing compounds are the principal medications used to treat leishmaniasis. These include:Meglumine antimonate,Sodium stibogluconate.Pentamidine and Amphotericin B are also used.

Question: the new tease morgellons i belive leishmaniasis because ive had this on my arm for 25 years in southern texas leishmans diease can only get it southern texas now thers 100 cases of morgellons diseae and those fibers are coming out of worms in a worm pit it coud be how they spread its all under the skin they have become transparent with a thin mucus skin layer.thesymphoms are alike bi-polar the dum dums and pain in joints and pain the back .they talk about hairs and fibers coming out their hands leishmans also talks about black hairs coming out of hands.morgellons patients talk about fibers coming out if you look below this you will find black specks and small clusters owhite balls that turn into the worms which make the fibers which make the cover over the nest of all these thing the fibers also go around the whole lessions or sores i know all this because i used superglue to pull 45 layers of skin that covered my hole hand if had a white color to it the fibers also come up to make a flat piece of the membrane skin i used superglue to take apart the whole lession i know more than the scientis

Answer: you know nothing there are only 7 layers of skin on the human body, or are you from another planet?