Cutaneous leishmaniasis and pregnancy

• Published in: Biomédica
• Main Authors: Ángel Jaimes, Gerzaín Rodríguez
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish
• Published: Instituto Nacional de Salud 2018
• Subjects: leishmaniasis cutánea/terapia; embarazo; transmisión vertical de enfermedad infecciosa; hipertermia inducida; Medicine; R; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.7705/biomedica.v38i3.4034; https://doaj.org/article/9fa679f88f374586a254dc1a7fb122bb

We studied a 19-year-old woman, with a 4-month pregnancy who presented with four cutaneous leg ulcers of three months of evolution diagnosed by biopsy as cutaneous leishmaniasis. Direct smear and the leishmanin skin test were negative. Since all the usual medications for cutaneous leishmaniasis are contraindicated in pregnancy, she did not receive any treatment but cured spontaneously of her lesions during pregnancy. It is believed that cutaneous leishmaniasis does not carry danger for pregnant women and that there is no maternal-fetal transmission in humans, though it occurs in experimental animals. The patient gave birth without complications and both she and her son remained normal after two years of follow-up.