Leishmania/HIV co-infections in the second decade.

Abstract

Leishmania-HIV co-infection has been globally controlled in Southern Europe since 1997 because of highly active anti retroviral therapy (HAART), but it appears to be an increasing problem in other countries such as Ethopia, Sudan, Brazil or India where both infections are becoming more and more prevalent. Most of the scientific background on Leishmania/HIV co-infection has been dropped from the Mediterranean experience and although the situations among countries are not fully comparable, it is of high importance to take advantage of this knowledge. In this review several aspects of the Leishmania/HIV co-infection are emphasized viz., epidemiological features, new ways of transmission, pathogenesis, clinical outcome, diagnosis, treatment and secondary prohylaxis. An extensive review of the literature on Leishmania/HIV co-infection has allowed the inclusion of a comprehensive and updated list of bibliographical references.