Abstract

This review gives an update of current knowledge on the clinical pleiomorphism of Leishmania, with a special emphasis on the case of asymptomatic carriage. The first part describes the numerous unusual expressions of the disease that occur besides the classic (visceral, cutaneous, and mucocutaneous) forms of leishmaniases. The second part deals with progress in the understanding of disease outcome in humans, and the possible future approaches to improve our knowledge in the field. The third part highlights the role of the too often neglected asymptomatic carrier compartment. This group could be key to understanding infraspecific differences in virulence and pathogenicity of the parasite, as well as identifying the genetic determinants involved in the expression of the disease.

Links

Publisher Full Text

Authors

Bañuls AL, Bastien P, Pomares C, Arevalo J, Fisa R, Hide M

Institution

UMR MIVEGEC (IRD 224-CNRS 5290-Université Montpellier, France. anne-laure.banuls@ird.fr

Source

Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases 17:10 2011 Oct pg 1451-61

MeSH

Animals
Asymptomatic Infections
Coinfection
Disease Reservoirs
Disease Vectors
Dogs
Gene Expression Regulation
Geography
Host-Pathogen Interactions
Humans
Immune Evasion
Immunity, Cellular
Leishmania
Leishmaniasis
Mammals
Psychodidae
Species Specificity
Virulence

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

Language

eng

PubMed ID

21933304