Treatment Patterns and Effectivness of Anti-Leishmaniasis Agents for Patients with Cutaneous Leishmaniasis at Boru Meda Hospital, South Wollo, North East Ethiopia, 2017/18

Abstract

Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is one of the endemic and neglected diseases known to exist in Ethiopian highlands. However, a neglected tropical disease overshadowed by lack of effective anti-leishmaniasis agent in Ethiopia. Thus, high number of population is faced for various degree of socio-economical and psychosocial morbidity. Hence, this study was initiated and conducted from July-February, 2017/18 to assess the patterns and effectiveness of different types of anti-leishmaniasis agents in Boru Meda Hospital, Dessie District. Methods: A cohort study design was employed in six treatment categories via randomly allocated cutaneouse patients from three clinical types at Boru Meda hospital Dermatology department. Detailed clinical assessment, biopsy/FNAC, and skin slit smear leishmania parasite detection were done to confirm clinical suspension. Then, the intended treatment types were administered for three cycle. Finally the data were analyzed using Epi-info, SPSS and the results presented using graphs and tables. Results: Among patients with mucocutaneouse leishmaniasis who have took systemic SSG with IL SSG 85.7%, systemic SSG with Allopurinol was as effective as 78.6%. Patients with DCL who took both systemic SSG with Allopurinol 80% and systemic SSG and local therapy both cryotherapy and IL SSG had a clinical cure rate of 85.7%. In addition, patients who diagnosed as localized cutaneouse leishmaniasis and took only cryotherapy 92.3% where as those patients who had a combined local therapy of both cryotherapy and IL SSG therapy showed clinical cure rate of 96.1%. Conclusion: As our study showed for any clinical type of cutaneouse leishmaniasis, administering combined forms (Pentavalent antimonial with local therapies i.e cryotherapy or/and IL SSG ) of anti-leishmaniasis agents had a better cure rate than single therapies.