Cutaneous leishmaniasis in Hamadan, Iran (2004-2010)

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a parasitic disease in many tropical and sub-tropical countries; caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania and can be transmitted by sand fly bites (Psychodidae). The aim of this study was the detection of cutaneous leishmaniasis cases in Hamadan, Iran. This investigation is a descriptive, cross sectional and retrospective study. The disease was diagnosed based on clinical examination and microscopic observation of the parasite in the ulcer site from April 2004 to November 2010. Data processing and statistical analysis were performed using SPSS software, Ver. 16. The results revealed that number of infected cases in Hamadan were 81 people during the study. Maximum cases have been reported in 2006 (17 persons or 21%) and minimum in 2007 and 2010 (7 persons or 8.6%) in each year. Seventy-seven cases (95.1%) were men and the remaining four patients (4.9%) were female. The statistical difference between them were significant (p<0.01). The majority of cases were groups of 16-30 and 31-45 years-old with 48.1% and 30.9%, respectively. Nearly 77.8% of the patients were living in urban and 22.2% in rural areas. Most of the cases (37.0%) had one and 28.4% two ulcers. The most common location of ulcers were on the hands (50.6%) and then on their feet (23.5%). The steady trend of disease in different years showed that Hamadan city is a non-endemic area. Further epidemiological investigations of disease particularly CL are suggested.