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Review
. 2023 May 14;8(5):275.
doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed8050275.

Alternative Non-Drug Treatment Options of the Most Neglected Parasitic Disease Cutaneous Leishmaniasis: A Narrative Review

Mohamed A A Orabi  1 , Ahmed A Lahiq  2 , Ahmed Abdullah Al Awadh  3 , Mohammed Merae Alshahrani  3 , Basel A Abdel-Wahab  4 , El-Shaymaa Abdel-Sattar  5
Affiliations
Review

Alternative Non-Drug Treatment Options of the Most Neglected Parasitic Disease Cutaneous Leishmaniasis: A Narrative Review

Mohamed A A Orabi et al. Trop Med Infect Dis. .

Abstract

With more than 12 million cases worldwide, leishmaniasis is one of the top 10 neglected tropical diseases. According to the WHO, there are approximately 2 million new cases each year in foci in around 90 countries, of which 1.5 million are cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a complex cutaneous condition that is caused by a variety of Leishmania species, including L. (Leishmania) major, L. (L) tropica, L. (L) aethiopica, L. (L) mexicana, L. (Viannia) braziliensis, and L. (L) amazonensis. The disease imposes a significant burden on those who are affected since it typically results in disfiguring scars and extreme social stigma. There are no vaccines or preventive treatments available, and chemotherapeutic medications, including antimonials, amphotericin B, miltefosine, paromomycin, pentamidine, and antifungal medications, have a high price tag, a significant risk of developing drug resistance, and a variety of systemic toxicities. To work around these limitations, researchers are continuously looking for brand-new medications and other forms of therapy. To avoid toxicity with systemic medication use, high cure rates have been observed using local therapy techniques such as cryotherapy, photodynamic therapy, and thermotherapy, in addition to some forms of traditional therapies, including leech and cauterization therapies. These CL therapeutic strategies are emphasized and assessed in this review to help with the process of locating the appropriate species-specific medicines with fewer side effects, lower costs, and elevated cure rates.

Keywords: cauterization therapy; cryotherapy; cutaneous leishmaniasis; laser therapy; leech therapy; photodynamic therapy; thermotherapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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