Prevalence of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Ramshir, Iran; An Epidemiological Study

Aims: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a prevalent parasitological disease with diverse clinical manifestations in Iran. Therefore, the present retrospective study carried out to describe the demographic features of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Ramshir, Iran. Materials & Methods: This descriptive study was performed on 136 cutaneous leishmaniasis patients whose data were recorded in the Ramshir health center during 2006-9. Demographic information of patients including age, sex, habitat and sites of lesions, month and years of incidence were recorded. The data were analyzed by SPSS 16 software. Findings: Totally 79 patients (58.1%) resided in urban areas and the born to 9 years (49.3%) was recognized as the most infected age group. Hands (41.2%) had the highest rates of cutaneous leishmaniasis lesions followed by face (36.0%) and foot (22.8%). The maximum number of cutaneous leishmaniasis lesions was reported in March. Conclusion: As cutaneous leishmaniasis in Ramshir seemed to be an endemic rural type, the appropriate preventing measures regarding to the rural cutaneous leishmaniasis should be considered to decrease incidence of the disease in the region.