Recent updates on leishmaniasis: Kala-azar outbreak, risk factors and herbal treatment

Abstract

Leishmaniasis is one of the infectious neglected tropical diseases caused by a protozoan parasite vector of genus Leishmania which is transmitted to humans through an infected blood-sucking sandfly. Leishmaniasis is prevalent in tropical and temperate regions of world which is fatal and life threatening if ignored and untreated. The current outbreak of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) disease (Covid-19) with Kala Azar fever followed by mucormycosis is major health issue killing many people in India. Leishmaniasis is transmitted through the bite of female sand flies infected with the protozoan. Kala Azar is a hyper endemic tropical disease for which no vaccine has been approved yet. However, many drugs that are available for the treatment of Leishmaniasis diseases possess serious side effects and drugs are active only in the acute phase of the disease Kala Azar. Another major limitation of existing drugs are severe toxicity with side effects and drug resistance. The emergence of drug resistance has created the main hindrance for Kala Azar control with one critical target in the state of Bihar in India. Therefore, there is an urgent need to search for cheaper, more effective, easily available and less toxic chemotherapeutic agents for combating Leishmaniasis. Therefore, herbal medicines without any side effects play an important role in controlling human health disorders and infectious diseases, Leishmaniasis (Kala Azar). This review paper presents current updates of three different clinical syndromes of leishmaniases disease, control measures, risks and herbal medicine treatment strategies.