Leishmaniasis in Argentina: temporal and geographical distribution from 2013 to 2017

GERMANO MJ ; SANCHEZ MV; CARGNELUTTI DE; NEIRA G; MACKERN-OBERTI JP; SALOMÓN MC; LOZANO E

Conferencia; DRUG DISCOVERY FOR NEGLECTED DISEASES INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS 2018; 2018

IntroductionLeishmaniasis is a reemerging infectious disease and considered by the World Health Organization as one of the neglected diseases1, and it is caused by different parasites that belong to the Leishmania genus. Leishmaniasis is endemic in Argentine Republic and in 17 American countries, this diseases is of compulsory notification in all these countries2. In some countries, data on the occurrence of leishmaniasis is collected as part of the National Disease Surveillance System, while in others countries there are specific tools for data collection3.ObjectiveThe objective of this study is to describe the temporal and geographical distribution of leishmaniasis cases in Argentine Republic between 2013 and 2017.Materials and methodsA retrospective study conducted in Argentine Republic, was carried out using data obtained from the Integrated Surveillance Bulletin (BIV) database from the National System of Health Surveillance (SNVS), taking into account confirmed cases of cutaneous, mucocutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis up to the 52nd epidemiological week of each year in the period 2013-2017. ResultsIn the period of 2013?2017, Argentine Republic reported a total of 1295 cases of diagnosed leishmaniasis. Of that total, 1128 cases corresponded to cutaneous leishmaniasis. These cases were notified in different regions of the country. Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis presented the second most reported leishmaniasis in Argentine Republic: 115 cases were reported principally in the Northwest and Northeast regions of the country. A total of 52 individuals with visceral leishmaniasis were identified, being the Misiones province, the most affected.DiscussionIn Argentina, cutaneous leishmaniasis is the most common type with 87.1% of total cases. In contrast of that, the lowest reports were by visceral leishmaniasis. The geographic distribution of leishmaniasis transmission is limited by sandfly vector circulation, thus the most cases were reported in endemic areas. Despite to that, a lot of cases were registered in non-endemic areas, due to deforestation, tropicalization of continents and human migration events.ConclusionsThis study shows the importance of maintaining adequate strategies for leishmaniasis surveillance in order to investigate epidemiological features such as temporal and geographical distribution.