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Epidemiology of cutaneous leishmaniasis in central A mazonia: a comparison of sex‐biased incidence among rural settlers and field biologists
Author(s) -
Soares Letícia,
AbadFranch Fernando,
Ferraz Gonçalo
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1111/tmi.12337
Subject(s) - incidence (geometry) , demography , epidemiology , population , cutaneous leishmaniasis , leishmaniasis , medicine , biology , veterinary medicine , immunology , pathology , physics , sociology , optics
Objective Cutaneous leishmaniasis ( CL ) is more frequently reported in men than in women; this may be due to male‐biased exposure to CL vectors, female‐biased resistance against the disease or both. We sought to determine whether gender‐specific exposure to vector habitats explains male‐biased CL incidence in two human populations of central Amazonia. Methods We compared the CL incidence in one population of field researchers ( N = 166), with similar exposure for males and females, and one population of rural settlers ( N = 646), where exposure is overall male‐biased. We used a combination of questionnaires and clinical data to quantify CL cases, and modelled disease incidence in a Bayesian framework. Results There was a moderately higher incidence of CL among men than among women in both populations, but male bias decreased as exposure time increased. Disease incidence was overall higher among field researchers, suggesting that they are an important but understudied CL risk group. Conclusion Our comparison of two contrasting populations provided epidemiological evidence that CL incidence can be male‐biased even when exposure is comparable in both sexes.