Vector borne disease: Leishmaniasis

Abstract

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic illness that is spread by female sandflies from the genus Phlebotomus. It is communicated by sandflies phlebotomine and occurs in four main clinical conditions. The sign and symptoms of leishmaniasis disease are fever, weight loss, loss of appetite, papules formation. The life cycle of Leishmania switches between two different forms i.e. intracellular and extracellular. Leishmaniasis in humans has anthroponotic and zoonotic transmission patterns. The leishmaniasis disease is endemic in the region of South America, Asia, and Europe. In Pakistan, it is more common in the south, and mostly present in rural and semi-urban areas of Baluchistan, Sindh, and Punjab, province. The medications used for the treatment of leishmaniasis may include first-line medicines such as pentavalent antimonial and second-line drugs such as “paromomycin, pentamidine and miltefosine”, for cases that are resistant. Further studies are needed to understand the pathology of this illness. This short review will help the researchers to understand and diagnose this disorder easily.