The fall and rise of Andean cutaneous leishmaniasis: transient impact of the DDT campaign in Peru

Abstract

A retrospective analysis was carried out on census data collected from house-to-house surveys during 1991-1992 in 4 areas endemic for Andean cutaneous leishmaniasis (uta) in the Department of Lima, Peru. Major changes in mean annual incidence in susceptible persons have taken place in these sites during the last 60 years. In particular, there is strong support for the hypothesis that, from the 1950s to the 1970s, the transmission rate was temporarily suppressed, largely as a by-product of the DDT house spraying campaign against malaria. These results are consistent with (i) anecdotal evidence, contemporary with the spraying campaign, and (ii) the official Ministry of Health records for the annual number of uta cases in the Departments of Lima and Ancash.

Environmental sanitation and peri-domiciliar organisation as auxiliary practices for the control of phlebotomines in Paraná state, southern Brazil

“…This was basically due to the role DDT played in the control of malaria and thus indirectly reducing the incidence of leishmaniasis (Deane et al 1955, Herrer 1956, Alencar 1961, Sherlock & Almeida 1970, Sen Gupta 1975, Magalhães et al 1980, Le Pont & Desjeux 1985, Brazil et al 1992, Davies et al 1994, Gratz & Jany, 1994. At the same time, the prophylactic alternatives, aimed at the vectors control have been directed mainly against mosquitoes and triatomines (Le Pont & Desjeux, 1984, Service 1991, Ault 1994, Winch et al 1994.…”

Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in the Peruvian Andes: Factors Associated with Variability in Clinical Symptoms, Response to Treatment, and Parasite Isolation Rate

“…sion rates for L. peruviana have historically varied significantly over time [7]; therefore, to reflect long-term selection pressures A total of 483 patients with active lesions (227 in the South and 224 in the North) and 1,514 patients with scars (970 in on a parasite population, we chose cumulative prevalence (the proportion of patients with a positive MST test) as our measure the South and 544 in the North) were recruited for the study. Some of the statistical analyses were performed for subsets of of transmission rate.…”

Cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Peruvian Andes: an epidemiological study of infection and immunity

“…This suggests either a relatively constant transmission rate during recent history, or that historical variation is masked by the high incidence rates. In contrast, the transmission rates in Cl and C2 were temporarily reduced during the period of the DDT campaign, and have since risen [32]; and this historical variation is reflected in the shape of the age prevalence Cutaneous leishmaniasis in Table 4 illustrates the estimates for Al and Am made by fitting the cross-sectional data to equations 2 and 3, respectively (assuming K = 0). For each study site, the estimates of A made from the prospective study (Table 3) are lower than those from the cross-sectional data, indicating that transmission rates were unusually low during our prospective survey.…”