Polymorphic light eruption-like lesions in association with cutaneous leishmaniasis – is it a unique leishmanid reaction in Leishmania donovani cutaneous leishmaniasis in Sri Lanka?

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in Sri Lanka is caused by Leishmania donovani species, which usually causes visceral leishmaniasis in neighboring countries. We report a case series of 54 patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis from Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, with associated polymorphic light eruption (PMLE) like lesions. As these PMLE-like lesions show characteristic features of an id reaction, we propose that this could be a leishmanid reaction. To date, PMLE-like leishmanid reactions are not reported in association with other leishmania species. Therefore, we suspect that PMLE-like leishmanid reaction could be a unique association of Leishmania donovani CL that occur in Sri Lanka.