The distribution of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Iraq: demographic and climate aspects
Article Category: Brief communication (Original)
Published Online: Aug 31, 2017
Page range: 255 - 260
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5372/1905-7415.1103.556
Keywords
© 2017 Harith Saeed Al-Warid, Ihsan M. Al-Saqur, Sumayah B. Al-Tuwaijari, Karim A. M. AL Zadawi
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
Background
Leishmaniasis is endemic in Iraq, where both cutaneous and visceral forms of the disease are reported.
Objectives
To determine the prevalence of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) and to identify associations of CL with age, sex, season, and provinces depending on some demographic and climatic aspects.
Methods
This study is retrospective and includes reported cases of infections using the available surveillance database taken from the Iraqi Ministry of Health for the years 2011, 2012, and 2013 for all provinces of Iraq.
Results
Men and boys were found to be at higher risk for CL compared with women and girls. The majority of cases were recorded among those in age groups 5–14 and 15–45 years old. Most cases were recorded from lowland provinces with moderate annual rainfalls and a high rural population.
Conclusions
This study provides initial necessary data for public health specialists working to assess management approaches for the control of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Iraq.