Update on Leishmaniasis

Purpose of Review

This paper will update readers on recent developments in leishmaniasis in the areas of epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

Recent Findings

As control of visceral leishmaniasis in India, Nepal and Bangladesh is heralded, East Africa becomes the region with most cases. Globally, cutaneous leishmaniasis rates continue to rise, with relocation and conflict in endemic areas contributory. In the US, molecular approaches to the diagnosis of leishmaniasis have become the primary tool for species determination. Some issues related to treatment of immunocompromised hosts are reviewed. An approach to human vaccines for leishmaniasis, with three vaccines in clinical development, is summarized.

Summary

New incremental advances in both visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis are identified. These span changes in epidemiology, identification of new species that infect humans, advances in laboratory confirmation, a transcriptomic approach to understanding changes in the skin in the initial weeks of infection, and management in immunocompromised hosts.