Abstract

GRILL, Fabio  and  ZURMENDI, Marcela. Visceral leishmaniasis in Uruguay. Arch. Pediatr. Urug. [online]. 2017, vol.88, n.1, pp.32-38. ISSN 0004-0584.

Leishmaniasis comprises a group of zoonotic diseases caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania and transmitted by sandflies. There are three basic clinical forms: cutaneous, cutaneous-mucous and visceral, the latter being the most serious presentation due to its high lethality rate if no specific therapy is initiated. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is caused by L. donovani complex, which includes L donovani in the Indian subcontinent, Asia and Africa, L. infantum in the Mediterranean basin and L. chagasi in South America. The infection occurs from parasites harboured in an animal reservoir (zoonotic cycle) Leishmaniasis has a very wide global distribution, with an estimated14 million people infectedand an annual incidence of 2 million new cases, of which 500,000 correspond to visceral leishmaniasis. In our continent between 2001 and 2014, approximately 48,700 cases of visceral leishmaniasis were registered.33.4% of these were in children under 5 years of age and 6.7% occured in patients infected with HIV. The overall mortality was 6.6%. In our country, in the north, specifically in Salto, since 2010, cases of canine leishmaniasis have been identified progressively, coinciding with the identification of the vector: Lutzomyia longipalpis. No cases in humans have yet been identified. This has caused an unprecedented epidemiological change in our country.

Keywords : VISCERAL LEISHMANIASIS.

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