Research Article
Mucosal Leishmaniasis - Clinical and Epidemiological Aspects of 234 Cases Treated in a Tertiary Reference Center in the Brazilian Amazon
Jorge Augusto de Oliveira Guerra1,2*, Maria das Graças Vale Barbosa1,3, Marcilene Gomes Paes1, Renato Teles de Sousa3, Pricila Gama da Silva3, Maria José Silva3, Alexandre Ribera Macião3, Rafael Siqueira de Carvalho3, Leila Inês de Aguiar Raposo da Câmara Coelho1,3 and Luiz Carlos de Lima Ferreira1,2,31Tropical Medicine Foundation of Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
2University of the State of Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
3Federal University of Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
- *Corresponding Author:
- Dr. Jorge Augusto de Oliveira Guerra
Tropical Medicine Foundation of Amazonas
Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
E-mail: jguerra291@gmail. com
Received date: November 09, 2011; Accepted date: December 08, 2011; Published date: December 10, 2011
Citation: de Oliveira Guerra JA, das Graças Vale Barbosa M, Paes MG, de Sousa RT, da Silva PG, et al. (2011) Mucosal Leishmaniasis – Clinical and Epidemiological Aspects of 234 Cases Treated in a Tertiary Reference Center in the Brazilian Amazon. J Community Med Health Edu 1:110. doi:10.4172/2161-0711.1000110
Copyright: © 2011 de Oliveira Guerra JA, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Presented here is a retrospective study including patients of the Brazilian Amazon region who were diagnosed with mucosal leishmaniasis (ML) and treated in a tertiary referral center between July 1992 to December 2008. In total, 234 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. There was a clear predominance of males, comprising 193 (82.5%) cases, and the mean age was 48 years. No fewer than 186 (79.5%) patients had undertaken activities that are considered to place one at risk of acquiring American Tegumentary Leishmaniasis (ATL) – agriculture, animal raising, or mineral extraction. Furthermore, 193 (82.5%) presented with a prior history of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL); the average time between the onset of CL and the first symptoms of ML in 138 cases was 16.3 years. Finally, 156 cases (66.7%) were located in municipalities that lie on the south bank of the Amazon River, suggesting that Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis was the likely etiological agent in these cases.
