Sun, sangria and sandflies: Leishmaniasis in an immunosuppressed patient returning from Spain.
Despite the global financial downturn, millions of people continue to travel abroad each year. Many travel with co-morbidities such as immunosuppression, placing them at greater risk of bacterial, viral and parasitic infections.(1) Leishmaniasis is one of the principal neglected tropical diseases.(2) Although it threatens 350 million people each year(3) it is not an infection that most General Physicians would associate with travel to Southern Europe. A case of visceral leishmaniasis is described in a lady with mild immunosuppression caused by systemic lupus erythematosus, following a holiday in Southern Spain, a destination not normally associated with this leishmaniasis.
Travel Health Consultancy, Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom. office@travelhealthconsultancy.co.uk
James
J
Moore
Kevin
K
Brown
D000666:Amphotericin B / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000276:immunology*; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology; D008875:Middle Aged; D014195:Travel
D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; C068538:liposomal amphotericin B; D000666:Amphotericin B