Cutaneous leishmaniasis: A neglected disfiguring disease for women

Asli Bilgic-Temel; Dedee F Murrell; Soner Uzun

doi:10.1016/j.ijwd.2019.01.002

Cutaneous leishmaniasis: A neglected disfiguring disease for women

Int J Womens Dermatol. 2019 Feb 10;5(3):158-165. doi: 10.1016/j.ijwd.2019.01.002. eCollection 2019 Jul.

Authors

Asli Bilgic-Temel^{1

2}, Dedee F Murrell^{1

2}, Soner Uzun³

Affiliations

¹ St. George Hospital, Department of Dermatology, Sydney, Australia.
² Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
³ Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Faculty of Medicine, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey.

Abstract

Leishmaniasis is one of eight neglected tropical diseases currently endemic in 102 countries/areas around the world. In recent years, cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) has been increasingly observed among migrants, travelers, ecotourists, and military personnel. Because of its great capacity to mimic other dermatoses, CL is one of the great imitators and can mislead practitioners, which can result in untreated lesions that cause scars. CL is a disfiguring disease, especially for women, and often leaves scars on visible body sites, causing psychological, social, and economic problems. CS is a challenge, especially in nonendemic regions, such as Australia, because experience with diagnosis and management of the disease is limited.

Keywords: Cutaneous leishmaniasis; disfiguring diseases; neglected diseases; stigma; women's health.