[Recent findings on the treatment of leishmaniasis]

The increased interest in leishmaniasis is due to the importance of travel medicine and the demonstration of Leishmania as an opportunist agent in immunosuppressed individuals, besides the persistence of traditional endemic foci. During the past ten years there have been important developments in therapy, which include: a) new dosages/combinations of old drugs, resulted from controlled clinical trials; b) new formulations, which have increased the bioavailability and decreased the toxicity of traditional drugs; c) new molecules, developed for other diseases but found effective against Leishmania. However, while it is now possible to cure severe forms of leishmaniasis with 3-5 infusions of new-generation drugs, the prohibitive costs will preclude the access of developing countries to new therapies.