Sabiha Imran
Manav Rachna International University, India
Title: A Novel Approach for Vaccine Designing against Visceral Leishmaniasis
Biography
Biography: Sabiha Imran
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease caused by different species of protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania.It is a major health problem yet neglected tropical diseases, with approximately 350 million people worldwide at risk and more than 1.5 million infections occurring each year. Leishmaniasis has different clinical manifestations,including visceral (VL or kala-azar), cutaneous (CL), mucocutaneous (MCL), diffuse cutaneous (DCL) and post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL). Among the three clinical forms of leishmaniasis (cutaneous, mucosal, and visceral), visceral leishmaniasis (VL) accounts for the majority of mortality, as if left untreated VL is almost always fatal. Caused by infection with Leishmania donovani or L. infantum, VL represents a serious public health problem in endemic regions and is rapidly emerging as an opportunistic infection in HIV patients. Currently, the only mean to treat and control leishmaniasis is by rational medications and vector control. However, the number of available drugs is limited and even these are either exorbitantly priced, have toxic side effects or prove ineffective due to the emergence of resistant strains. On the other hand, the vector control methods are not so efficient. Therefore, there is an urgent need for developing a safe, effective, and affordable vaccine for the prevention of leishmaniasis. Although in recent years a large body of researchers has concentrated their efforts on this issue, yet only three vaccine candidates have gone for clinical trial,until date. These are: (i) killed vaccine in Brazil for human immunotherapy; (ii) live attenuated vaccine for humans in Uzbekistan; and (iii) second-generation vaccine for dog prophylaxis in Brazil.In endemic areas, the majority of those infected do not develop clinical symptoms and past infection leads to robust immunity against reinfection.Thus the development of vaccine for Leishmania is a realistic public health goal, and this paper summarizes advances in vaccination strategies and challenges against VL.
Keywords: Leishmaniasis, Immune response, Vaccine,Leishmania donovani