Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Gene Reports journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/genrep Prevalence of cutaneous leishmaniasis in different regions of Larestan and its relationship with public health condition during 2014–2015 Aliyar Pirouzi a , Hossein Forouzandeh a,b , Amir Raoofi c , Iraj Ahmadi d , Rahman Abdizadeh e , Elmira Zarei a , Razieh Hoseini Farrash f,g , Azad Khaledi h,i, ⁎ a Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Gerash University of Medical Sciences, Gerash, Iran b Blood Transfusion Research Center, High Institute for Research and Education in Transfusion Medicine, Shiraz, Iran c Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Sabzavar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran d Physiology Department, School of Medicine, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran e Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran f Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran g Departments of Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran h Infectious Diseases Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran i Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Cutaneous leishmaniasis Leishmaniasis Prevalence ABSTRACT This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of cutaneous leishmaniasis in different regions of Larestan and its relationship with public health condition during 2014–2015. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 223 positive cases during 2014–2015 in Larestan region, in southern Fars province, Iran. The samples were taken from lesion exudates caused by mosquito bites. The parasite was distinguished by Giemsa staining. Presence of Leishman bodies or Amastigotes form indicates the positivity of the case. The included patients were studied in terms of nationality, age, sex, involved organ, number of lesions, parasites sources, type of building, and Patients' place of residence. Data analyzed using SPSS software through Fisher's exact and t-student tests. About 95% of the positive cases were Iranian patients, and the remaining were Afghans. And 51% of patients were female. Individuals younger than 9 years old had the most infection cases (55%). A significant correlation was found between age and leishmaniasis. Also, 81% of the diseases were related to urban leishmaniasis. Hands were the most common organs involved with a frequency 39%. It was found that the age group1–9-year-old has contained the most level of infected cases to cutaneous leishmaniasis. 1. Introduction Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease that appears in various forms including cutaneous (cutaneous leishmaniasis), mucocutaneous, diffuse cutaneous and visceral (visceral leishmaniasis (VL) known as kala-azar) (Alvar et al., 2012). Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a chronic disease that shows itself as a painless lesion in some areas of the body, particularly, on the face. The carrier of the disease is an infected sand fly that infects a person by body biting (Murray et al., 2005). At least 20 different species of the genus Leishmania parasite can be transmitted by sandflies (Desjeux, 2004; Alvar et al., 2012). Two types of cutaneous leishmaniasis have found up to now. In urban leishma- niasis that is also known as dry leishmaniasis, its sources are dogs and human and it lasts usually about a year (Desjeux, 2004; Khaledi et al., 2016). While, urban leishmaniasis creates deep spots in the site that lesion is formed, but, it heals spontaneously. In rural type leishmaniasis which is also called as wet leishmaniasis, the mouse is the source of the disease and the lesion that caused by it remains several weeks to 6 months and lasts for a maximum period of 18 months. Although the leishmaniasis is common in all seasons of the year but is most common in the autumn (Soto et al., 2004; Reithinger et al., 2007). The Known centers of the world with leishmaniasis almost all are https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genrep.2019.100530 Received 18 September 2019; Received in revised form 28 September 2019; Accepted 30 September 2019 Abbreviations: VL, Visceral leishmaniasis; WHO, World Health Organization ⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, 5th of Qotb-e Ravandi Blvd., P.O. Box: 87155.111, 87154 Kashan, Iran. E-mail address: azadkh99@gmail.com (A. Khaledi). Gene Reports 17 (2019) 100530 2452-0144/ © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. T