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Black fever, or leishmaniasis, is a parasitic disease transmitted by sand flies, causing severe skin lesions, fever, weight loss, fatigue, and anemia. It is more common in poor countries and can be fatal if left untreated. Treatment involves antimony medication and sometimes hospitalization. It is not easily transmitted from person to person, but can be spread through blood-to-blood contact and worsened by AIDS.
Black fever, also known as leishmaniasis, is a parasitic disease transmitted to humans through the bite of the sand fly. Only female sandflies can transmit Leishmania parasites to people, and in addition to black fever, the organisms can cause a wide variety of different infections, including a disease involving severe skin lesions. If no treatment is given to infected people, this disease is usually fatal. The disease is generally more common among the world’s poorest populations, especially in countries where modern medicine is generally harder to come by.
The most common symptom is a long-lasting fever that can last for weeks or months. Patients may also lose their appetite and may experience weight loss as a result. People often become fatigued and can develop anemia. In the later stages, the patient’s skin may begin to darken and they may begin to lose their hair. The spleen and liver often become enlarged, and some patients experience diarrhea and vomiting, especially younger children.
Left untreated, the overall prognosis for leishmaniasis is usually dismal. Patients often die within a couple of years. Eventually, the disease can put a strain on a person’s immune system, damaging it to the point where the individual’s body cannot defend itself against simple bacterial infections. If people wait until the later stages before seeking treatment, it’s often too late for doctors to do anything about it.
Treatment involves the use of special medications with an ingredient called antimony. This compound has strong antibacterial properties and is helpful in fighting the black fever parasite. Sometimes treatment may also involve long-term hospitalization, with the patient receiving intravenous medications and nutrition. In severe cases, it is not uncommon for the individual’s spleen to be surgically removed.
This disease is not easily transmitted from person to person, but certain human behaviors and modern technologies have made direct transmission more likely. It is possible to spread by blood-to-blood contact, so intravenous drug users can pass the parasitic disease to each other, and it can also be transmitted through blood transfusions. Another problem that has worsened leishmaniasis in recent years is how it interacts with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Patients with asymptomatic leishmaniasis can become symptomatic when they also have AIDS, and people with AIDS are also more likely to become infected in the first place.
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