INCIDENCE OF LEISHMANIASIS IN AL BAHA PROVINCE, SAUDI ARABIA: PAST AND PRESENT SITUATION (OBSERVATIONAL AND DESCRIPTIVE STUDY)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Baha University, Saudi Arabia, (Al-Azhar University, Egypt)

2 Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a worldwide skin protozoan infectious disease. This study evaluated the past and present situation of CL in Al-Baha Province. The incidence of CL patients over a total of (250,000) mid-year population was recorded from January to December in both years of 2012 and 2013. The statistical analyses were carried out with SPSS version 12.0 for windows. The highest number of patients was in 2012 with 11cases in this year. 37.5% of patients aged
younger than 15-year and 62.5% were older than 15 year. The highest incidence of disease was observed in Almandak Governorate in 2012 (8 over 250,000 mid-year population), and the lowest incidence rate was in Al-Tawlah Governorate in the same year. The disease was observed with the incidence rate over 250,000 mid-year population of 3,3,2,1,1and 1 for January, May , December, March, June and September 2012 respectively and 3,1, and 1 for June, January and April 2013 respectively. The highest incidence of disease was observed among males, Saudi patient who are resident in Al-Baha in both years of 2012 and 2013.

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