Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

Abstract

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease caused by an intracellular protozoan of Leishmania genus. These parasites are transmitted to humans by the bite of phlebotomine flies. Leishmania disease is classified in different clinical variants: cutaneous localized or diffuse, mucocutaneous and visceral.

It is a common parasitic disease in Latin America and especially in developing countries where the lifestyle of the population increases the risk of getting sick, because they live in areas of natural parasitic concentrations, with little access to health services. For these reasons, Leishmaniasis constitutes a serious health problem, whose knowledge is of great importance for physicians who work in these areas within endemic countries.

A seven month old male patient is presented with an ulcerated non pruriginous node of circular shape, 5mm in diameter, localized on the right cheek with a 5 months evolution. The patient was a permanent resident of La Puerta, Merendón, San Pedro Sula, a mountainous area with abundant vegetation. Detected at the Regional Social Security Hospital where the histopathological study showed macrophages with amastigotes of leishmania sp. Intramuscular treatment was administered for twenty days, obtaining favorable results, without recurrence.

This is one of many cases of pediatric cutaneous leishmaniasis in San Pedro Sula, which confirms the increasing of the protozoan parasite´s spread.

Acta Pediátrica Hondureña, Vol. 5, No. 1 & 2 / April 2014 - March 2015: 365-369