Variation in clinical presentation and genotype of causative Leishmania major strain in cutaneous leishmaniasis in north and south Afghanistan

Abstract

A different clinical picture and therapeutic response were observed when data from Leishmania major - infected Dutch military personnel stationed in southern (N = 8) and northern (N = 169) Afghanistan were analyzed. Clinical presentation of cutaneous leishmaniasis in personnel in the south was milder and seemed to respond better to antileishmanial treatment; molecular analyses of parasite isolates seem to indicate that these differences may be genetic. Copyright © 2011 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.