Oral zinc sulphate in the treatment of acute cutaneous leishmaniasis

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A clinical trial to evaluate the efficiency of oral zinc sulphate in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis was conducted. One‐hundred and four patients with parasitologically proven cutaneous leishmaniasis were included in the trial. Patients were assigned randomly to receive 2.5, 5 or 10 mg/kg of zinc sulphate orally, and a control group of patients did not receive any treatment. All patients were followed up for 45 days. At the end of the follow‐up period, lesions were assessed and parasitological proof of cure or otherwise was sought. Results showed that the cure rate for the 2.5 mg/kg group was 83.9%, for the 5 mg/kg treatment group it was 93.1% and for the 10 mg/kg treatment group it was 96.9%. No lesions in the control group showed any sign of healing during the follow‐up period. Therefore, oral zinc sulphate can be recommended as a very safe therapy for cutaneous leishmaniasis.