Epidemiological study of cutaneous leishmaniasis in southwest of Iran during 2001–2011

Objective: To examine the prevalence process and epidemiological characteristics of cutaneous\udleishmaniasis (CL) during 2001–2011.\udMethods: This was a cross-sectional epidemiologic study examining 2 637 patients with CL\udin Susangerd county during 2001–2011. The data of all patients who referred to the Prevention\udUnit of Susangerd Health Center were registered in CL epidemiologic data summary forms.\udThe data and parameters included age, gender, occupation, season, residence (urban, rural), and\udlesion location.\udResults: Out of 2 637 patients, 1 174 cases (44.5%) were females and 1463 patients (55.5%)\udwere males. The maximum rate of infection was recorded in under 10-year-old age group\ud(45.32%) and its minimum rate was seen among those aged over 60 years (0.87%). Among\udthem, 1 557 patients (59.0%) were living in urban and 1 080 (41.0%) were in rural areas.\udThe maximum and minimum occupational frequency distributions were seen in students\ud(49.9%) and farmers (0.6%), respectively. The study showed that the maximum and minimum\udfrequencies were observed in winter (52.33%) and summer (7.62%) correspondingly. The most\udlesion frequencies from lesion location point of view were related to hands (37.5%), faces\ud(30.0%), feet (26.3%) and other organs (6.2%) and the number of lesions ranged from 1–5 and\udsized varied from 0.5–5.5 cm\udConclusions: Epidemiological parameters such as age, gender, occupation, season, residence\ud(urban, rural) and lesion location in endemic regions have had significant effects on the\udprevalence of CL in Susangerd county and the findings can be effective for assessing disease\udprevention programs. In addition, CL might become a serious dermatological health problem\udin the near future due to a great population movement to the neighboring country Iraq with a\udhigh incidence to an endemic area