Leishmaniasis- Some Symptoms To Look Out For

People are at risk for leishmaniasis irrespective of their ages and especially susceptible if they live or travel to areas where leishmaniasis is highly prevalent. Adventure travelers, bird watchers, researchers, peace workers and unwary holiday travelers are usually the ones to get infected. There are a number of types of protozoa like L. Donovani, L. Infantum, L. Chagasi, L. Mexicana which can cause leishmaniasis and which are carried by the infected female sand fly.

The bites start with itching and harsh red rashes which can be treated with anti-histamine creams.

It is peculiar to note that only the female sand fly's bite humans to acquire proteins to complete the cycle of life. The four main types of leishmaniasis are mucocutaneous Leishmaniasis which comprises of skin ulcers spreading from nose and mouth areas in particular, diffuse Cutaneous characterized by widespread skin lesions resembling leprosy, cutaneous is the most common with numerous skin sores on the body that develop weeks or months after the initial bite and usually leave life long scars and visceral Leishmaniasis is the most serious form of the disease and can be fatal if left untreated and can even cause death.

The four main types of leishmaniasis are mucocutaneous Leishmaniasis which comprises of skin ulcers spreading from nose and mouth areas, diffuse cutaneous characterized by skin lesions resembling leprosy, cutaneous is the most common with numerous skin sores developing a longtime after the initial bite and usually leave life long scars and visceral Leishmaniasis is the most serious form of the disease and can lead to sure death if left untreated due to secondary infection.

The most common of it are the cutaneous type which is characterized by soreness of the skin with red bumps or rashes. Visceral leishmaniasis is much more dangerous and it acts deep in the body and affects some of the internal organs of the body like the spleen, liver, bone marrow.

People affected with cutaneous leishmaniasis have sores which can change in size and color over a period of time and gets severe with lack of treatment or undiagnosed condition. At their acute stages it looks like volcano eruptions like a ring or a crater like appearance and color ranging from a harsh red to a yellow or orange.

People who have visceral leishmaniasis suffer from high fever, weight loss, chills, loss of appetite, emaciation, malaise, an enlarged spleen and liver. Swollen glands are common, a low red blood cell count or progressive anemia, a low white blood cell count, leukopenia is also seen. Most of the world's cases of visceral leishmaniasis are from Asian countries like Nepal and from south American countries like Brazil, Argentina, Africa and also the middle east. Leishmaniasis is not prevalent in the countries along the pacific like Australia etc.

While Leishmaniasis is not as widely known as a killer disease like malaria, it is equally painful and dangerous as malaria or dengue. Other protozoan parasites which the sand flys may carry are pappataci fever and carrions disease.