Tag Archives: immune compromised people

Heat Therapy Could Be New Treatment for Parasitic Skin Disease

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scientists are hoping that heat therapy could eventually replace a complex drug regimen as the first-line treatment of a parasitic skin infection common in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. 

The researchers successfully treated the skin infection with heat therapy in two patients whose immune systems were deficient, which lowered their bodies’ ability to respond to medication. Both patients have remained free of the parasitic disease, called cutaneous leishmaniasis, for more than a year since receiving the heat treatment. 

That long-term effectiveness, especially in people with compromised immune systems, makes this one-time application of heat to skin lesions an appealing alternative to the conventional treatment for the infection — a series of about 20 consecutive daily drug injections that is rife with compliance problems, researchers say.  (more…)

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