Authors
den Boer, Margriet LeontineAlvar, Jorge
Davidson, Robert N
Ritmeijer, Koert
Balasegaram, Manica
Affiliation
Medecins Sans Frontieres, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsIssue Date
2009-09-01Submitted date
2010-10-15
Metadata
Show full item recordJournal
Expert Opinion on Emerging DrugsAbstract
BACKGROUND: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is one of the most neglected parasitic diseases causing large scale mortality and morbidity among the poorest of the poor in the Indian subcontinent and Africa. OBJECTIVE: This review aims to describe the potential and the (lack of) current impact of newly developed treatments on the control of VL. It describes how the problem of an empty research pipeline is addressed, and discusses the emerging threat of incurable HIV/VL coinfection. METHODS: The literature was searched for drugs used in VL. CONCLUSION: Research and development of VL drugs has received a financial boost but no new drugs are expected in the next 5 years. Only three new and highly effective treatments have been licensed in the past 10 years. These remain, however, largely inaccessible as VL control programs in the developing world are lacking. This is deserving of immediate and urgent attention, especially in the context of the rapidly expanding HIV/VL coinfection.PubMed ID
19708817Additional Links
http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1517/14728210903153862Type
ArticleLanguage
enISSN
1744-7623ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1517/14728210903153862
Scopus Count
Collections
Related articles
- Visceral leishmaniasis: what are the needs for diagnosis, treatment and control?
- Authors: Chappuis F, Sundar S, Hailu A, Ghalib H, Rijal S, Peeling RW, Alvar J, Boelaert M
- Issue date: 2007 Nov
- Current diagnosis and treatment of visceral leishmaniasis.
- Authors: Mondal S, Bhattacharya P, Ali N
- Issue date: 2010 Aug
- Parasite susceptibility to amphotericin B in failures of treatment for visceral leishmaniasis in patients coinfected with HIV type 1 and Leishmania infantum.
- Authors: Lachaud L, Bourgeois N, Plourde M, Leprohon P, Bastien P, Ouellette M
- Issue date: 2009 Jan 15
- Paromomycin.
- Authors: Davidson RN, den Boer M, Ritmeijer K
- Issue date: 2009 Jul
- Leishmaniasis chemotherapy--challenges and opportunities.
- Authors: Croft SL, Olliaro P
- Issue date: 2011 Oct