CHINESE JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY AND PARASITIC DISEASES ›› 2018, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (4): 418-425.

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Leishmaniasis and its control

Li-ren GUAN*(), Chun-hua GAO   

  1. National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention Chinese Center for Tropical Diseases Research WHO Collaborating Centre for Tropical Diseases National Center for International Research on Tropical Diseases, Ministry of Science and Technology Key Laboratory of Parasite and Vector Biology, Ministry of Health, Shanghai 200025, China
  • Received:2017-10-15 Online:2018-08-30 Published:2018-09-06
  • Contact: Li-ren GUAN E-mail:guanliren@163.com

Abstract:

Leishmaniasis is an ancient parasitic disease. It can be divided into 3 types: visceral leishmaniasis(VL), cutaneous leishmaniasis(CL) and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis(MCL) according to clinical manifestations. Leishmaniasis is widely distributed in Asia, Africa, Europe, and central and south America. The control of leishmaniasis is challenging and thus a long-run task. There are two types of leishmaniasis in China, including the VL and CL types. The human VL, which once had a prevalence in plain areas of 7 provinces in eastern and central China, was reported to be eliminated in 1983, but is still occurring in some ancient oasis plain areas of southern Xinjiang. The VLs in the mountainous and desert regions in the west are of the zoonotic type and are difficult to control, and these areas are the main endemic foci of the disease. The CL type was found in Karamay, Xinjiang in the 1980s, and its distribution in other areas of China has yet to be investigated. In recent years, CL cases imported from abroad have been reported in Sichuan, Anhui, Xinjiang and Henan provinces/autonomous regions. It remains to be determined if the disease can spread in western China. The prevalence of AIDS and the increased numbers of HIV infections in the population offer possibilities of co-infection with Leishmania and HIV. This will have an impact on the endemic trend of leishmaniasis in China.

Key words: Visceral leishmaniasis, Cutaneous leishmaniasis, Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, Leishmania and HIV co-infection, Control

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