American cutaneous leishmaniasis in Brazil^*

Dear Editor,

the case report on "American cutaneous leishmaniasis in Brazil" deals with an interesting topic.¹ Bernardes Filho et al. reported on two new autochthonous cases of American cutaneous leishmaniasis in Brazil and state "the need for actions aiming at the early diagnosis and treatment of American cutaneous leishmaniasis cases.¹" This report may add additional information to a recent report by Silva et al, which described an autochthonous case of cutaneous leishmaniasis in an urban center of Brazil.² These studies mention dogs as a reservoir host for leishmaniasis, and the human-animal interrelationship should be further investigated in epidemiological surveillance studies.³ In fact, re-emergence or new emergence of American cutaneous leishmaniasis is an important concern in tropical dermatology. This disease can be difficult to diagnose if the general practitioner does not recognize it. The dermatological appearance of the disease can sometimes be uncommon (e.g., it may present as a zosteriform lesion) and this may lead to delayed diagnosis.⁴ A successful management of the disease can be expected if early diagnosis is achieved. Some new drugs (such as paromomycin) are effective for treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis.⁵

• Financial Support: None.
• How to cite this article: Wiwanitkit V. American cutaneous leishmaniasis in Brazil. An Bras Dermatol. 2015; 90(3):297-311.
• *
  Study conducted at the Surin Rajabhat University – Surin, Thailand.

Reference

• ¹
  Bernardes Filho F, Bonatto DC, Martins G, Maier L de M, Nery JA, Azulay-Abulafia L. Occurrence of two autochthonous cases of American cutaneous leishmaniasis in the neighborhood of Caju, city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. An Bras Dermatol. 2014;89:848-50.
• ²
  Silva GA, Boechat Tde O, Ferry FR, Pinto JF, Azevedo MC, Carvalho Rde S, et al. First case of autochthonous human visceral leishmaniasis in the urban center of Rio de Janeiro: case report. Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo. 2014;56:81-4.
• ³
  Figueiredo FB1, Barbosa Filho CJ, Schubach EY, Pereira SA, Nascimento LD, Madeira Mde F. Report on an autochthonous case of canine visceral leishmaniasis in the southern zone of the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. 2010;43:98-9.
• ⁴
  Ramot Y, Nanova K, Alper-Pinus R, Zlotogorski A. Zosteriform cutaneous leishmaniasis diagnosed with the help of dermoscopy. Dermatol Pract Concept. 2014;4:55-7.
• ⁵
  Joob S. Paromomycin for cutaneous leishmaniasis. Diag Ther Stud. 2012;1:54-7.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  June 2015

History

• Received
  07 Sept 2014
• Accepted
  10 Sept 2014