Epidemiological and diagnostic studies of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Kirkuk Governorate

Abstract

In this investigation the total of 1600 cases or suspected cases of leishmaniasis were evaluated in Kirkuk gover province from January to December 2013 . One hundred forty six cases were found to be positive that were distributed among the four districts including Kirkuk , Hawija , Dubis , and Dakook. The highest infection rate was reported in Hawija (20.5%) whereas the lowest infection rate was in Kirkuk (3.5%) . In this study the cutaneous disease was more frequent in females (61.64%). The highest infection rate of cutaneous disease (50%) were found with age group(1-5) years while the lowest infection rate (2.05%) were at age group (20-25) years . Also the highest infection rate of cutaneous disease (24.62%) was recorded in January and the lowest rate in June , July and August . Most lesions located on exposed body sites (arms, hands, head and legs). The clinical features of the lesions were furunclar, ulcerative and some lesions were covered by firmly adherent crust and others were edematous. By using direct microscopic test , amastigotes were dectectable in 93 cases , and the positive cases were increased to122cases by realizing the parasite culture in to diphasic NNN media, which conform the diagnosis. The examination of 146 serum sample plus 20 control serum sample by ELISA revealed 138 positive results (94.5%) as compared to 122 positive sample (83.5%) which were examined by classic methods . The examination of control sample by ELISA were all negative . On the other hand, the using of PCR was found to be very sensitive and useful for diagnosing cutaneous leishmaniasis and can provide a better understanding of the epidemiology of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the endemic areas . This study revealed the presence of leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania major in Hawijadistritic .

Keywords

• epidemiology
• diagnosis
• cutaneousleishmaniasis
• kirkuk