Health
Leishmaniasis moving north
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Oct. 8, 2007
A skin infection seen among soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and those living in the southern part of Texas has started appearing farther north, according to a statement issued by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
Dermatologists there have identified nine cases of leishmaniasis in people from the northern part of the state who had not traveled recently to endemic areas. They are calling for physicians to recognize that this parasite is on the move, most likely because the sand flies that transmit it have been shifting northward.
This infection often can be mistaken for staph and treated inappropriately with antibiotics.
"If a patient has been in Iraq or another known endemic area, we are very used to looking for leishmaniasis," said Kent Aftergut, MD, clinical instructor of dermatology at the center. He has been tracking these cases. "But in the past, you just would not have suspected it in a patient living in North Texas with no travel history."
These cases have not been linked to variants of the parasite common to the Middle East.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/10/08/hlbf1008.htm.
