Abstract
Background: Leishmaniasis is a zoonotic infection inwhichparasites of the genus Leishmania are transmitted from rodents and small mammals to Phlebotomus species sand fly vectors. In Iran at least 20000 leishmaniasis cases per year have been reported. Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a major health problem in some parts of Iran, which exists as zoonotic and anthroponotic forms in different foci of the country. In recent years new foci of zoonotic CL were found in Iran. This disease is endemic in many rural areas, including Khuzestan Province, southwestern Iran. The main vector for humans is Phlebotomus papatasi, Scopoli 1786 (Diptera: Psychodidae). P. Papatasi is the predominant sand fly. Leishmania major is a causative agent of ZCL. Rodents are the main reservoirs of this disease. This study was carried out to determine the epidemiology and the status of CL in Behbahan County. Methods: This descriptive cross section study was done in Behbahan County from 2004-2008. We confirmed suspected cases by using stained smears. Data for this study were collected by means of a questionnaire. The data was analyzed by SPSS software. Results: A total of 172 cases of CL were reported in Behbahan County in 2004 (n=24), 2005 (n=33), 2006 (n=43), 2007 (n=34) and2008 (n=38).Most of the cases (55.2%)were found in themales. In 55 cases (32%) the ulcer was located on hand and the remainder were on foot (31.4%), face (19.2%) and trunk (17.4%) respectively. Eighty four patients (48.8%) had only one ulcer. But 88 cases (51.2%) had more than one ulcer. The highest incidence was found among patients with two age group of 20-29 (27.3%) and 10-19 (26.2%). Most frequencywas found in the rural areas (52.9%). The study also showed the rate of CL incidence during these 5 years had not been fixed andfluctuated from time to time (with the general rate of 0.18 per thousand). It was also evident that the highest rate of incidence of CL was in winter, spring, fall and summer, respectively. Conclusion: With respect to the increased prevalence of CL in Behbahan, health care observers should pay further attention on preventing the disease spread.
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