Clinical Findings and Management of Imported Cutaneous Leishmaniasis- Presentation of 8 Cases from Poland with a Review of Current Knowledge about Leishmaniasis

Abstract

Background: Leishmaniasis is a frequent parasitic disease in the world, caused by protists of Leishmani genus and transmitted by Phlebotomusspp. and Lutzomyia spp. sandflies. It is a relatively unknown and uncommon disease on our continent therefore it remains a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge for European physicians. There are two clinical forms of the disease that can be distinguished: cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis. Aim of the study was to expand the knowledge about cutaneous leishmaniasis among physicians and to show that patients with leishmaniasis can be found in any country due to globalization. Case presentation: Laboratory results of patients infected with cutaneous leishmaniasis and a clinical course of this disease have been presented. 8 patients infected with cutaneous leishmaniasis were treated in the Department of Tropical and Parasitic Diseases in Gdynia, Medical University of Gdansk in the years 2005-2013. All of them were admitted with symptoms lasting at least several months prior to the admittance. Satisfactory results were obtained with the applied treatment. Conclusions: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a rare finding in Poland, and diagnosis and treatment of the disease are hampered by poor knowledge about the disease among physicians and laboratory staff, as well as lack of registered antimony-based drugs in Poland. The problem of misdiagnosis and, as a consequence, inappropriate treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis persists also in other European countries as well as Canada and the United States. According to the literature, almost every case of leishmaniasis in these countries was initially treated inappropriately and time to definite diagnosis usually took several weeks.