Researchers at the University of York have identified genes in a parasite that could help clinicians predict drug treatment outcomes for patients with visceral leishmaniasis in Brazil.
The findings could lead to a new prognostic test that can predict which patients will respond well to drug treatment and which patients need alternative solutions.
Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease transmitted to humans by the bite of the infected female sandfly. With 50,000 to 90,000 new cases worldwide each year, it causes fever, substantial weight loss, swelling of the spleen and liver and anaemia and can be fatal if left untreated.