new YORK (Reuters Health) – children with
equally effective results in cutaneous leishmaniasis
with a month of treatment with oral miltefosina to 20 days
therapy with antimonials injectables, revealed a study
in Colombia.
“Children with cutaneous leishmaniasis have options of
“”
very limited treatment”, she said to Reuters Health
Nancy Gore Saravia. “Twenty daily injections of drugs
antimonials are highly inaccessible rural areas
endemic”, he added.
Though distribution of this infection transmitted by the
horseflies is worldwide, according to the Centers for Control and the
Prevention of diseases of United States, 90 percent
cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis occur in Afghanistan,
Algeria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and
Bolivia.
In a report published in the online Journal
of Infectious Diseases, Saravia, of the Centre team
Medical research, and international training in
Cali, indicates that children with visceral Leishmaniasis obtained
good results with oral miltefosina, but that the medication
had not been evaluated in pediatric cutaneous leishmaniasis.
To do so, the team divided randomly 116 children for that
undergo treatment with 20 daily injections of
meglumine antimoniate (standard care) of a dose
daily supervised for 28 days of oral miltefosina.
Identified parasites were fundamentally Leishmania
panamensis, followed by l. guyanensis, both of the subgenus
Viannia.
In total, 111 children (95 per cent) completed the
follow-up assessment. Intention analysis of
treatment showed that the failure rate was 13.8 per cent
less miltefosina than with antimoniate (a 17.2 from 31
%).
According to the researchers, the adverse events were
mild in both groups.
“Believe that the results of this study rigorously
“
made to provide overwhelming evidence that the miltefosina,
an oral medication that can be given s children by
members of the family or household, is at least as effective as
“
antinomial treatment in this vulnerable population”, said
Saravia.
“Expect the results to impact on policy of
“”
treatment of Pediatric cutaneous leishmaniasis”, concluded the
author.
Source: Journal of Infectious Diseases, January 11 online
2012
