The two deaths from leishmaniasis in the Bologna area reopen the alert on this dangerous infectious disease.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himLeishmaniasis: it is alarm in the Bolognese area. Two elderly dead and five infections. At the Sant'Orsola hospital, deaths due to "complications of the disease" stir people up a lot, but there are ways to treat Leishmaniasis and above all to prevent it.
Leishmaniasis is a common disease among dogs, but which can also be transmitted to man through the passage of the so-called leishmanias (i protozoa) because of pappataci puncture. If it is not done early diagnosis and if not treated pharmacologically, leishmaniasis can even lead to death.
READ also: CANINE LEISHMANIOSIS: 4 FUNDAMENTAL RULES TO PREVENT IT
And this is the case of the two Bolognese victims, aged 74 and 82, who at the time of the infection presented a fairly complex clinical picture and then did not withstand the impact of the nucleoside to which they were subjected in the infectious disease department of Sant'Orsola in the Romagna capital, and which has a high degree of toxicity.
It is assumed that the site of the infection was the hilly areas of San Lazzaro di Savena, in an area used as vegetable gardens. And here so much so that, as required by the procedures, the veterinary service of the Usl di Bologna has made contact with the owners of dogs present within a radius of 300 meters from the place of attendance and carried out routine analyzes on them.
"Usually Leishmaniasis is a disease from which you are cured, our operating unit has all the diagnostic and treatment tools adequate to guarantee a positive outcome to these cases ”, says Dr. Pierluigi Viale, director of the Infectious Diseases Operating Unit of the Sant'Orsola hospital.
But how to prevent Leishmaniasis?
There are generally fixed rules to prevent our four-legged friends from contracting the disease.
- Apply to dogs, both healthy and sick, in the period of transmission of the disease (therefore from May to October) of repellent products expressly indicated to protect against the sting of sand flies;
- limit the dog's evening walks;
- make the house sleep in the house during the night, applying tightly meshed mosquito nets to balconies and windows;
- have your dog checked regularly by a veterinarian to verify that it has not been infected.
In addition, a vaccine has been available since 2012 to protect dogs from developing the active form of the disease.
Germana Carillo