Clinical characteristics of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Al-Diwaniyah province

Farah Saleh Abdul-Reda
2019 Annals of Tropical Medicine and Public Health  
Leishmaniasis in human being is either cutaneous or visceral disease and is caused by the protozoan parasite Leishmania. From historical perspective, the disease has been very common in tropical climates affecting multiple regions of the world including Asia, Europe, America and Africa The disease isendemic to almost all regions of the world with few exceptions and it is estimated that 1.5 to 2 million new cases are registered annually. The parasite is transmitted to human host following female
more » ... sand fly feeding on blood. Indeed, the acquisition of parasite by the sand fly also happens during this process of blood feeding.The aim of current study was to identify features of cutaneous leishmaniasis from clinical perspective in a group of Iraqi patients in AL-Diwaniyah Province. Methods: The present cross-sectional study included 60 patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis with an age range of 3 to 71 years. The beginning of the study wasdated back to3rd, January 2019 and the work has extended to 51th, August 2019. The study has been accomplished at AL-Diwaniyah Province in AL-Diwaniyah Teaching Hospital (Unit of Dermatology). The selection of cases was based on systematic random process with the first case being selected according to a random number obtained according to computer software and the rest of patients were selected as every other 3.Results:According to number of lesions, 7(35%) of participants hadsingle lesions, while 13(65%) of them had multiple lesions. With respect to type of lesion, 11(55%) of patients had dry lesions; whereas9(45%) of them had wet lesions. According to site of lesions, facial lesions were seen in 10(50%) patients, upper lesions were encountered in 6(30%) patients and lower limb lesions were seen in 4(20%) patients. There was insignificant association between clinical characteristics of lesions and demographic characteristics of enrolled patients (P>0.05).Conclusion:Lesions were mainly seen in patients less than 20 years with no gender predilection, multiple lesions and facial location were the dominant presentations with no significant impact of age and gender on clinical characteristics of lesions.
doi:10.36295/asro.2019.221215 fatcat:dque734b2bf4lnaq4anu2gyequ