ABSTRACT

A total of 72 cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) cases referred to the Wad Madani Teaching Hospital between September 1999 and December 2000 were included in the present study. The patients were from different parts of the Gezira State. The duration of lesions varied between several days and more than one year, with the duration of most of them ranging between 1-3 months (91.6%). Different types of lesions were observed such as ulcerative (63.9%), nodular (31.9%), nodular/ulcerative (2.8%), and fungal/ulcerative (1.4%). These lesions were found on different parts of the body including the limbs (87.5%), face (1.4%), and trunk (1.4%). The number of lesions varied between 1 and 16. The CL cases were treated using medicinal agents and plant methanol extracts. All agents showed good response (90.3%). The response ratio of medicinal agents to plant methanol extracts was 1.03:1. Garlic (Allium sativa) showed 100% response, with no significant difference from pentostam (p= 0.75). Also neem (Azadirachta indica) showed an insignificant difference from pentostam (P= 0.09). Leishmanol and garad (Acacia nilotica) showed significant difference from the control (P= 0.05 & 0.04 respectively).

Keywords: Cutaneous leishmaniasis, herbal therapy, Sudan