[Efficacy and tolerance of pentamidine for treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by por L. (V) panamensis in Colombia].

Introduction: Current treatment for human cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) relies on pentavalent antimonials. Although efficacy of these drugs is high (around 85%), their widely documented toxicity and increasing resistance makes the search for therapeutic alternatives a priority for endemic countries.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of the pentamidine isethionate for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L.

Failure of a killed Leishmania amazonensis vaccine against American cutaneous leishmaniasis in Colombia.

We report the results of a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial of a killed whole-cell Leishmania amazonensis candidate vaccine against American cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in Colombia. The trial subjects were 2597 healthy volunteers with negative leishmanin skin test (LST) selected from rural Colombian soldiers who were going to patrol endemic areas. They were randomized to receive either three doses of vaccine (n=1295) or placebo (n=1302) given at 20-day intervals.