Leishmaniasis

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease spread by the bite of the sandfly and can cause skin disease and systemic disease. The systemic form can be fatal, but treatment with antimony-containing compounds produces a high cure rate.

Review Date: 08/28/2009
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; and Jatin M. Vyas, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Assistant in Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.