Abstract
The current study was aimed to evaluate the frequency and epidemiological aspects of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in the southwest of Iran, an endemic focus for the leishmaniasis from 2014 to 2017. In the present retrospective cross-sectional study, all suspicious CL persons who were referred to health centers affiliated to Abadan School of Medical Sciences (Abadan and Khorramshahr cities) were tested. In this regard, both clinical and parasitological (staining with Giemsa) verifications were performed to diagnose a case. Furthermore, a structured questionnaire containing some demographic details was applied for each positive patient. In total, 151 and 132 positive CL cases were identified in Abadan and Khorramshahr cities, respectively. More frequency of CL was observed during the Winter season, among male subjects, and in urban inhabitants in both cities. The incidence of CL based on age distribution was higher in the age range of 20–30 years than others. Besides, the hands and feet were the most involved organs. Although the frequency of CL has declined in the region, CL is still a public health problem. More appropriate control strategies are required to limit and eliminate the infection in the future.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank all staff at the healthcare centers in Abadan and Khorramshahr cities. We are very grateful to Dr Faezeh Hedayati-Rad (Department of Environmental Sciences, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran) for her helpful consultation and comments on the manuscript.
Funding
This study was financially supported by Grant No (96ST-0141) from Student Research Committee, Abadan School of Medical Sciences, Abadan, Iran.
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SS and MF designed the study protocol; SS, MH, HA, and MSK collected the data and involved in statistical analysis; MF and SS drafted the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
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All subjects voluntarily agreed to be tested. An informed consent was obtained from adult persons and parent or guardian of children less than 15 years old. This study received the approval from the Abadan School of Medical Sciences Ethical Committee (1396.234). Ethical issues (including plagiarism, misconduct, data fabrication and/or falsification, double publication and/or submission, redundancy, etc.) have been completely observed by the authors.
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Soltani, S., Foroutan, M., Hezarian, M. et al. Cutaneous leishmaniasis: an epidemiological study in southwest of Iran. J Parasit Dis 43, 190–197 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12639-018-1073-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12639-018-1073-0