Epidemiology of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, West South of Iran, 2006-2014

The World Health Organization recommended that comprehensive studies should be conducted on leishmaniasis, which is of the six important diseases in tropical regions. This study was carried out to investigate the epidemiological status of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Jahrom city of Fars province in southern Iran. In this analytical-descriptive study 1140 patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis were included. All patients were registered in the Disease Surveillance System of the Health Deputy of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences from 21 March 2006 to 20 March 2014. We extracted underlying and epidemiological variables of patients who were under treatment and follow-up procedures. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and chi-square test using SPSS17 at significance level of 0.05. Findings showed that 58.3% of patients were males, 64.3% of them were living in villages, and the majority of them were above 30 years of age. Moreover, 64% of them had a previous history of living in or traveling to a leishmaniasis endemic region in Iran. Hands were the most affected part of the body (39.4%) followed by face (23%). This study showed that cutaneous leishmaniasis was hypoendemic in Jahrom also the disease was more prevalent in rural areas. Leishmaniasis control programs in Jahrom requires an intersectoral collaboration of all involved organizations along with the proper education of the people at risk