AJTMH HINARI
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 30(4), 1981, pp. 751-761
Copyright © 1981 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Werner, J. K.
Right arrow Articles by Barreto, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Werner, J. K.
Right arrow Articles by Barreto, P.

Leishmaniasis in Colombia, a Review*

J. Kirwin Werner AND Pablo Barreto
Tulane University International Center for Medical Research, Cali, Colombia, and Departmento de Microbiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia

A review is made of 60 publications on leishmaniasis in Colombia reported between 1889 and the present. A serious source of difficulty in interpreting the literature is the frequent discussion of "cases" (1,536 of 1,865, or 82%) that were never confirmed by observation of the parasite or by positive immunological tests. The apparent distribution of the disease is considerably biased by the real distribution of physicians. Nevertheless, laboratory-confirmed cutaneous leishmaniasis has been reported from most humid, lowland regions, and apparently the disease is endemic in nearly all the administrative sections of the country. Mucocutaneous involvement seems to occur in around 25% of the cases. Visceral leishmaniasis is seldom reported and is known to occur only in the Magdalena River basin. There have been no surveys to identify arthropod vectors or wild reservoir hosts, although two naturally infected dogs were associated with one of the visceral leishmaniasis cases. Leishmaniasis is a seldom diagnosed but major health problem in several regions of Colombia, in terms of the number of persons affected and the difficulty of obtaining treatment.

Accepted for publication November 8, 1980.


* Supported in part by the Tulane University-COL-CIENCIAS International Center for Medical Research, Grant AI-100050 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Public Health Service, and by the Department of Microbiology, Division of Health, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia.

Address reprint requests to: Dr. J. K. Werner, Department of Biology, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Michigan 49855.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1981 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.