how to treat Leishmaniasis?

Written by: Mohammad Arif Rahimi

Leishmaniasis is a common disease between animals and humans. According to the information, provided by Ministry of Public Health of Afghanistan, last year (1395 solar year) about 33,000 people were infected with leishmaniasis.

Writer/producer AEPO has talked to some leishmaniasis infected people and a dermatologist at the center of National Malaria & Leishmaniasis Control Program, Kabul city.

A woman, who has brought her child for treatment says: at the beginning, there was a red rash on his foot. Later some other small rashes also appeared around it. It did not have itching, pain, and swelling.

Doctor Ghulam Nabi Wardak says: Leishmaniasis is caused by a mosquito, Sandfly. These mosquitoes are living in dark caves of animals, walls cracks, and dark places. These mosquitoes bite people and other animals during nights. if an infected sandfly bites a healthy person, it could cause the disease to pass to him/her.

mosquito bit skin seems as a rash and enlarges slowly. If someone scratches or itches the rash, it might spread to another place of the body and might increase Leishmaniasis.

Leishmaniasis has two types of treatment in Afghanistan:

1: by injection

2: by ice

In the second type of treatment, the patient put an ice piece in a plastic and places it over the infected skin for at least 20 minutes each time and repeat it for some days.

Any kind of mosquitoes could be prevented by using the mosquito net, net to the windows, spraying chemicals in living rooms.