The most common symptoms of leishmaniasis are the onset of high fever, accompanied by abdominal pain and swelling. These symptoms can appear up to 6 months after the bite of a mosquito infected with the parasite and if the disease is not treated properly, it can lead to death.
Leishmaniasis is a disease that especially affects dogs, but can be transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito. It’s enough for the mosquito to bite the sick dog and then bite the person to make him sick.
- This disease can be caused by several parasites in the same family.
- And depending on the parasite two main types of leishmaniasis may occur.
- With symptoms such as:.
Almost all cases begin with a fever of more than 38 degrees Celsius lasting several weeks. During this time, the fever subsides until it goes away, but returns soon after. Other symptoms include:
When this type of disease is more advanced, severe anemia can also occur, which can cause heart problems, as well as bleeding from the nose, eyes and stool. If treatment is not implemented quickly, more serious, life-threatening diseases such as pneumonia, measles or tuberculosis are common.
The first symptom of this type of leishmaniasis is the development of a small lump at the site of the mosquito bite that, after a few weeks or months, becomes a large round wound. This wound is usually healed without treatment, which can occur between 2 and 15 months. However, in some cases, these injuries may take time to heal and require treatment by a nurse.
After healing, wounds often leave permanent scars and therefore, if they affect the face, can cause cosmetic changes.
If there is a suspected leishmaniasis infection, it is very important to go to the hospital immediately for blood tests and to confirm if the disease is present in the body. Skin leishmaniasis can usually be diagnosed even without an examination, as the onset of sores after a mosquito bite is enough to confirm the disease. However, visceral leishmaniasis has symptoms very similar to typhoid fever, malaria or brucellosis, so a spleen biopsy is needed to make sure of the diagnosis and initiate appropriate treatment.
Understand how leishmaniasis is treated
The only leishmaniasis vaccine available should be given to dogs that are not infected with the parasite. Transmission to humans is done by biting the infected mosquito, the only way to protect yourself is to avoid mosquito bites by taking certain precautions such as:
These precautions, in addition to protecting against leishmaniasis, also protect against other problems caused by mosquito bites such as dengue, Zika or chikungunya fever, for example.
Discover other ways to protect yourself from mosquito bites and prevent mosquito bites.