• Malaria Vaccine
• Hookworm Vaccine
• Schistosome Vaccine
• Genomic tools for Malaria
• Interactive maps and epidemiology
• Immune Evasion
• Allergy and Ascariasis
• Mosquito control
• Immunocompromised
  Hosts
• Anti-malarial drug development
• Anti-parasitic drug development
• Conflict and parasites
• Parasites of Bees
• Morgellons:
  Fact or Fiction?
• Eradication of
  Chaga’s Disease
• The world’s most successful parasite
• Guinea worm eradication

LEISHMANIASIS

Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by infection with the protozoa in the genus Leishmania. It has a global distribution, being found in eighty-eight countries across the entire globe.(1) At present, the World Health Organization estimates that 12 million people infected with one of the three forms of leishmaniasis: cutaneous, mucocutaneous, and visceral.(2) In most cases, leishmaniasis is not fatal. However 2.4 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) are lost every year primarily due to the debilitating affects of the disease.(3) Because Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait are all endemic regions, the Gulf War, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom have all brought military personnel in contact with the protozoa and put them at risk for infection.

Figure 1

Links to Past ParaSites:

Leishmaniasis – 2006 – http://www.stanford.edu/class/humbio103/ParaSites2006/Leishmaniasis/Index.htm

The Quest for a Leishmaniasis Vaccine – 2006 – http://www.stanford.edu/class/humbio103/ParaSites2006/Leish_vaccine/index.html

Leishmaniasis – 2003 – http://www.stanford.edu/class/humbio103/ParaSites2003/Leishmania/leish%20web.html