Latest Cutaneous leishmaniasis Stories

(Ivanhoe Newswire) "“ There's news crawling around the science world- parasitic skin infections can be treated with heat therapy and this therapy could become the first-line treatment for these infections. Parasitic skin infections are commonly seen in tropical and subtropical regions, and currently the first-line treatment is a complex drug regimen.Researchers successfully treated the skin infection in two patients whose immune systems were deficient, which lowered their bodies' ability to...

Scientists are hoping that heat therapy could eventually replace a complex drug regimen as the first-line treatment of a parasitic skin infection common in tropical and subtropical regions of the world.The researchers successfully treated the skin infection with heat therapy in two patients whose immune systems were deficient, which lowered their bodies' ability to respond to medication. Both patients have remained free of the parasitic disease, called cutaneous leishmaniasis, for more than a...

By Michael C. Purdy, Washington University in St. LouisA parasite and a virus may be teaming up in a way that increases the parasite's ability to harm humans, scientists at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report this week in Science.When the parasite Leishmania infects a human, immune system cells known as macrophages respond. However, some Leishmania strains are infected with a virus that can trigger a severe response in...

A parasite estimated to afflict as many as 12 million people worldwide relies on a family of genes that should make it vulnerable to compounds developed to treat cancer and other disorders, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found.Scientists searched the genome of the parasite Leishmania to determine that it has three kinds of TOR kinases, proteins that are linked to cell growth and cancer and have been longstanding targets for drug development. When...

In the first survey of sand flies in Panama to use genetic barcoding, scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Gorgas Memorial Laboratories identified 20 sand fly species from Barro Colorado Island. Two species carried Leishmania naiffi, a parasite that causes cutaneous leishmaniasis: persistent, itchy skin lesions. Three species carried Wolbachia, a bacterial parasite of insects that could contribute to a strategy to control the flies and limit disease...

BRISTOL, Tenn., March 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Graceway® Pharmaceuticals announced today that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the New Drug Application (NDA) for Zyclara(TM), determining it to be safe and effective for the treatment of clinically typical, visible or palpable actinic keratoses (AK). The new treatment can be used on large areas of skin, including the full face or balding scalp on a convenient, 6-week dosing cycle. Zyclara shares the same active ingredient as...

A single session of heat therapy using the ThermoMedâ„¢ device appears to be as effective as a 10-day intravenous course of sodium stibogluconate (Pentostam) for the treatment of Leishmania major skin lesions, according to a new study by Naomi Aronson and her colleagues at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC). Results from the randomized treatment trial, which involved 56 military personnel who contracted L. major while...

Using an unconventional approach that they designed, University of Pittsburgh drug discoverers and their collaborators at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research have identified compounds that hold promise for treating leishmaniasis, a parasitic infection that many consider one of the world's most overlooked diseases. The findings are available online today in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.These drug candidates, which are able to disrupt the growth of a certain stage in the life cycle of...

Researchers at MUHC/McGill uncover key role played by a molecule in the process of infection used by the parasite that causes leishmaniaLeishmania is a deadly parasitic disease that affects over 12 million people worldwide, with more than 2 million new cases reported every year. Until recently, scientists were unsure exactly how the parasite survives inside human cells. That mystery has now been solved according to a new study published in Science Signaling by a team led by Dr. Martin Olivier...

SEATTLE, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- IDRI (Infectious Disease Research Institute) announced today the start of a clinical trial in Sudan to test its leishmaniasis vaccine candidate for the treatment of post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL), a complication of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) which is observed in 50% of patients treated for VL in the country, predominantly affecting children. This trial reflects IDRI's commitment to develop innovative, affordable products against all...