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Abstract

Background

Surveillance of human leishmaniasis in Europe is mostly limited to country-specific information from autochthonous infections in the southern part. As at the end of 2021, no integrated analysis has been performed for cases seen across centres in different European countries.

Aim

To provide a broad perspective on autochthonous and imported leishmaniasis cases in endemic and non-endemic countries in Europe.

Methods

We retrospectively collected records from cutaneous, mucosal and visceral leishmaniasis cases diagnosed in 15 centres between 2014 and 2019. Centres were located in 11 countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Data on country of infection, reason for travelling, infecting species, age and sex were analysed.

Results

We obtained diagnostic files from 1,142 cases, of which 76%, 21% and 3% had cutaneous, visceral, and mucosal disease, respectively. Of these, 68% were men, and 32% women, with the median age of 37 years (range: 0–90) at diagnosis. Visceral leishmaniasis was mainly acquired in Europe (88%; 167/190), while cutaneous leishmaniasis was primarily imported from outside Europe (77%; 575/749). Sixty-two percent of cutaneous leishmaniasis cases from outside Europe were from the Old World, and 38% from the New World. Geographic species distribution largely confirmed known epidemiology, with notable exceptions.

Conclusions

Our study confirms previous reports regarding geographic origin, species, and traveller subgroups importing leishmaniasis into Europe. We demonstrate the importance of pooling species typing data from many centres, even from areas where the aetiology is presumably known, to monitor changing epidemiology.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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2022-01-27
2024-12-28
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Surveillance of leishmaniasis cases from 15 European centres, 2014 to 2019: a retrospective analysis
<p class="citation"> <span>Citation style for this article:</span> <span class="meta-value authors"> <a href="/search?value1=Gert+Van+der+Auwera&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Van der Auwera Gert</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Leigh+Davidsson&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Davidsson Leigh</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Pierre+Buffet&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Buffet Pierre</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Marie-Th%C3%A9r%C3%A8se+Ruf&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Ruf Marie-Thérèse</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Marina+Gramiccia&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Gramiccia Marina</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Stefania+Varani&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Varani Stefania</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Carmen+Chicharro&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Chicharro Carmen</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Aldert+Bart&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Bart Aldert</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Gundel+Harms&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Harms Gundel</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Peter+L.+Chiodini&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Chiodini Peter L.</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Hanne+Brekke&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Brekke Hanne</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Florence+Robert-Gangneux&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Robert-Gangneux Florence</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Sofia+Cortes&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Cortes Sofia</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Jaco+J+Verweij&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Verweij Jaco J</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Alessandra+Scarabello&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Scarabello Alessandra</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Sara+Karlsson+S%C3%B6birk&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Karlsson Söbirk Sara</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Romain+Gu%C3%A9ry&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Guéry Romain</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Saskia+van+Henten&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">van Henten Saskia</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Trentina+Di+Muccio&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Di Muccio Trentina</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Elena+Carra&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Carra Elena</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Pieter+van+Thiel&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">van Thiel Pieter</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Martin+Vandeputte&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Vandeputte Martin</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Valeria+Gaspari&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Gaspari Valeria</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Johannes+Blum&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Blum Johannes</a>, <a href="/search?value1=LeishMan+Surveillance+network&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">LeishMan Surveillance network</a></span>. Surveillance of leishmaniasis cases from 15 European centres, 2014 to 2019: a retrospective analysis. <a href="/content/ecdc">Euro Surveill.</a> 2022;27(4):pii=2002028. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.4.2002028" title="doi link" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.4.2002028</a> <span class="ES_Article_citation"> <span class="generated">Received</span>: 29 Nov 2020;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="generated">Accepted</span>: 14 Sept 2021 </span> </p>
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