A symposium dedicated to leishmaniasis was held within the XIII International Congress of Parasitology ICOPA 2014 framework. This disease can cause from skin sores that eventually heal, to liver or spleen inflammation. This condition usually occurs in men. In Mexico 73 percent of patients suffering from this disease are men between the ages of 25 and 44; who generally live in rural areas near coffee or cocoa plantations. Among the principal obstacles to properly combat this disease are poverty and problems of health care access.
Dr. Ingeborg Becker, from the Faculty of Medicine of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), said: “Leishmaniasis is a group of diseases caused by intracellular protozoan of the genus Leishmania, and is transmitted by female mosquitoes of the Lutzomyia or sandflies gender. It is manifested in the skin, in mucous membranes of the airways and in viscera. In Mexico there are four types of leishmaniasis: localized, mucocutaneous (the most common in our country), diffuse and visceral.”
Dr. Becker also pointed out that the entities most affected by leishmaniasis are Chiapas, Tabasco, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Nayarit, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo. The doctor also noted that leishmaniasis is associated with malnutrition, population displacement, poor housing conditions and immune system weakness. The condition is considered a public health problem, because of its wide geographical distribution and the destructive and disabling injuries, which it causes.
Experts say that one of the main challenges to combat leishmaniasis is to ensure early care and observance to the treatment, in order to prevent the condition becoming chronic and having complications that may even be fatal.
Parasitologists agreed on the need to increase efforts to promote timely access to medical care and treatment of diseases such as leishmaniasis that are neglected by medical science due to lack of diagnosis, treatment and its observance.
Via: La Crónica
