3D illustration of Leishmania parasite with red blood cells and leukocytes.Credit: Dr. Microbe/iStock/Getty Images Plus
Shorter and less toxic treatment for people with visceral leishmaniasis is possible by combining drugs, a study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases shows.
Combining Miltefosine (MF), the only oral drug available for leishmaniasis treatment, with paromomycin (PM), an injectable antibiotic, could replace the current Sodium Stibo-Gluconate plus Paromomycin (SSG/PM) first-line treatment of primary visceral leishmaniasis in Eastern Africa.
A trial among 424 patients in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Uganda show that MF and PM (MF/PM) combination treatment is more than 91% effective in treating visceral leishmaniasis.
The research team, from Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DnDi), set out to determine whether a combination of PM and MF is as effective as SSG/PM for treatment of primary visceral leishmaniasis in Eastern Africa.
“With one less injection each day, reduced treatment duration, and no risk of life-threatening cardiotoxicity, PM/MF is a more patient-friendly alternative for children and adults with primary visceral leishmaniasis in Eastern Africa,” the researchers report.
Additionally, the study shows that this MF and PM treatment reduces the risk of post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis, a common complication of visceral leishmaniasis that occurs after treatment mainly in Sudan and Ethiopia – to 4 %, lower than 20.9% if treated by SSG/PM.
Simon Bolo, head of leishmaniasis access at DnDi tells Nature Africa, that these results are a big step towards control and elimination efforts of visceral leishmaniasis in the Eastern Africa region, as the new treatment is expected to greatly reduce morbidity. He hopes policy-makers will “move with speed to adopt the new treatment, so that visceral leishmaniasis patients can start benefiting from this innovation”.
