Epidemiological Determination of Cases of Dysentery using Geographic Information System (GIS) in the Southern Cities of Kerman Province, Iran from 2016 to the End of 2019

Bloody diarrhea is an infectious disease of the gastrointestinal tract that is transmitted through direct or indirect contact with infected people and through fecal-oral. The aim of this study was to determine the epidemiology of cases of dysentery in the southern cities of Kerman province, south of Iran.

In this cross-sectional study, data of all patients with dysentery in the southern cities of Kerman province, south of Iran from 2016 to the end of 2019 (1,949 people) was collected using a checklist. This data was received from the bloody diarrhea registration software of Jiroft University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. Data were analyzed by SPSS 23 software and the geographical distribution of the disease was mapped by GIS software.

During 2016-2019, the frequency of patients in the age group of less than one year gradually decreased and in the group of 1 to 4 years, there was an increasing trend. The frequency of dysentery was decreasing in Faryab region and increasing in Ghale-Ganj region and no significant difference was observed in other regions. The findings showed that in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, 6.1, 13.7, 16.9 and 23% of the patients were hospitalized and 0.2, 0.4, 1.5 and 0.5% of patients were died, respectively.

Cases of blood dysentery in the southern cities of Kerman province, south of Iran have unique epidemiological characteristics that are different from other studies and indicate the need for more detailed study to identify the causes of this difference and develop some specific preventive and treatment plans appropriate to this region of the country.