Imported leishmaniasis in travelers: a 7-year retrospective from a Parisian hospital in France
Open Access
- 15 September 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in BMC Infectious Diseases
- Vol. 21 (1), 1-9
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-021-06631-5
Abstract
Leishmaniases are regularly seen in non-endemic areas due to the increase of international travels. They include cutaneous leishmaniases (CL) and mucocutaneous (MC) caused by different Leishmania species, and visceral leishmaniases (VL) which present with non-specific symptoms. We reviewed all consecutive leishmaniasis cases seen between September 2012 and May 2020. The diagnostic strategy included microscopy after May-Grünwald-Giemsa staining, a diagnostic quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay, and species identification based on sequencing of the cytochrome b gene. Eighty-nine patients had a definitive leishmaniasis diagnosis. Nine patients had VL with Leishmania infantum. Eighty patients had CL. Twelve patients acquired CL after trips in Latin America (7 Leishmania guyanensis, 2 Leishmania braziliensis, 2 Leishmania mexicana, and 1 Leishmania panamensis). Species could be identified in 63 of the 68 CLs mainly after travel in North Africa (59%) with Leishmania major (65%), Leishmania tropica/killicki (24%), and L. infantum (11%), or in West Sub-Saharan Africa (32%), all due to L. major. The median day between appearance of the lesions and diagnosis was 90 [range 60–127]. Our diagnostic strategy allows both positive diagnoses and species identifications. Travelers in West Sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa should be better aware of the risk of contracting leishmananiasis.This publication has 42 references indexed in Scilit:
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