EntomoNews

Author summary Infectious diseases are often studied one by one, but people can have more than one infection at the same time. This is likely to happen when different microorganisms are linked to specific geographical regions or living conditions. In this paper, we summarise the literature about infections occurring together with tegumentary leishmaniasis (TL), a disease of skin and mucosal tissues that is caused by Leishmania parasites. We found that in Latin America, patients with TL are often also infected with helminths or with Trypanosoma cruzi (the parasite that causes Chagas disease). Information from other parts of the world is scarce. Animal studies and observations in humans show that one infection can change the course of another infection, but how this happens is not well understood. When different infections affect the same patient at the same time, the diagnosis can be difficult, especially when different microorganisms are biologically similar, when they cause similar lesions, or when they are present in the same lesions. Treatment can also be difficult because some coinfections reduce the efficacy of the treatment against Leishmania and because some drug combinations can lead to cumulative adverse effects.

Dalila Y. Martínez, Kristien Verdonck, Paul M. Kaye, Vanessa Adaui,
Katja Polman, Alejandro Llanos-Cuentas, Jean-Claude Dujardin,
Marleen Boelaert

• Tegumentary leishmaniasis and coinfections other than HIV - PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 01.03.2018