Leishmaniasis control in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa

Olivier Uwishema; Suhail Sapkota; Jack Wellington; Chinyere Vivian Patrick Onyeaka; Helen Onyeaka

doi:10.1016/j.amsu.2022.104263

Leishmaniasis control in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa

Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2022 Aug:80:104263. doi: 10.1016/j.amsu.2022.104263. Epub 2022 Jul 31.

Authors

Olivier Uwishema^{1

2

3}, Suhail Sapkota^{1

4}, Jack Wellington^{1

5}, Chinyere Vivian Patrick Onyeaka⁶, Helen Onyeaka⁷

Affiliations

¹ Oli Health Magazine Organization, Research and Education, Kigali, Rwanda.
² Clinton Global Initiative University, New York, USA.
³ Faculty of Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey.
⁴ Nepal Army Institute of Health Sciences, College of Medical Polytechnic, Kathmandu, Nepal.
⁵ Faculty of Medicine, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
⁶ Department of Emergency Medicine, Watford General Hospital, West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Watford, United Kingdom.
⁷ School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B152TT, UK.

Abstract

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease, endemic to Africa, Asia, and South America due to inadequate access to medication and underreporting of leishmaniasis cases. Leishmaniasis has two forms: cutaneous and visceral. The fight against leishmaniasis has been greatly affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that impacted resource distribution and access to medication. Continuous effort in vaccine development and affordable therapeutics are necessary to eliminate leishmaniasis in low-income countries. Further research is necessary to determine molecular drug resistance markers in leishmaniasis patients. In this analysis, we focus on the effect of COVID-19 on leishmaniasis in Africa.

Keywords: Africa; COVID-19; Leishmaniasis; Tropical diseases.