Epidemiology Study of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in AL-Muthana Province (2016-2022)

Abstract

Cutaneous Leishmaniasis has been a long-standing public health concern in Iraq. The study on leishmaniasis epidemiology in Iraq indicates that the disease has been endemic in various regions for many years. Leishmaniasis is an ancient disease in Iraq known by different local names, including “oriental sore”, “Aleppo button”, “Jericho boil”, Delhi boil,“ sister” and “Baghdad boil”, which used to be common until a few decades ago. This study aimed to identify the spread of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Muthanna province, Iraq, by analyzing patient data based on gender, age, and location. Data collection took place from December 3, 2023, to March 10, 2024, and was conducted by the AL Muthanna Health Department and the Statistics and Control Unit, involving all registered cases in the governorate’s districts. The data was organized in statistical tables, categorized by years from 2016 to 2023, and analyzed using the (SPPS version 23) program, The chi-square test was used to identify significant differences in total cases, age groups, number of infections among patients, region, gender, and age at a probability level of P<0.05 . The study based on statistical analysis of diagnosed cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis, the results revealed that males were more prevalent, accounting for 59% of the cases, while females accounted for 41%,the analysis showed that males were slightly more frequently affected by cutaneous leishmaniasis compared to females with a significant difference of (p≤0.05) during the years 2016-2023. The age distribution of patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis CL showed that the highest frequency was observed among individuals aged 5-14 years (41%). Download Full Text