429 Leishmaniasis research doi: 10.1016/S2222-1808(16)61061-7 ©2016 by the Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Disease. All rights reserved. A 5-year period (2010–2014) retrospective study of human cutaneous leishmaniasis in Ahvaz County, southwest of Iran Jasem Saki 1 , Sanaz Tavakoli 2* , Masoume Mardani 2 , Shokrollah Salmanzadeh 1 , Asma Karamkhani 2 1 Health Research Institute, Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran 2 Department of Medical Parasitology, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Asian Pac J Trop Dis 2016; 6(6): 429-431 Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Disease journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apjtd *Corresponding author: Sanaz Tavakoli, Department of Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz 613715794, Iran. Tel: +98 (613) 3367543-50 E-mail: tavakoli.s@ajums.ac.ir Foundation Project: Supported by Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran, (Grant No. OG-94141). The journal implements double-blind peer review practiced by specially invited international editorial board members. 1. Introduction Leishmaniasis is a tropical disease resulted from a protozoan parasite from Leishmania Species[1]. Leishmaniasis has different forms including cutaneous leishmaniasis, visceral leishmaniasis, post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis and diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis. Visceral leishmaniasis is the most serious form of leishmaniasis and sometimes leads to death if untreated. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a public health problem and if lesions are multiple it seems to be dangerous. Cutaneous leishmaniasis in old world is divided to two parts: anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis and zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis. Anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in old world in urban regions is due to Leishmania tropica and zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis is caused by Leishmania major, Leishmania aetiopica, and Leishmania infantum[2,3]. The first case of cutaneous leishmaniasis dated back the 9th century and was called Balkh sore and still is a major health problem in 21th century. Cutaneous leishmaniasis can be ranged from a small skin ulcer to sever mucosal and nasopharynx involvement[4]. First-line drugs for the treatment of the disease are pentavalent antimonial compounds, such as meglumine antimonate (Glucantime®) and sodium stibogluconate (Pentostam), which have been utilized since the 1940s until the present. As of yet, there is a lack of effective vaccines against leishmaniasis[5,6]. The main vector of anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis is Phlebotomus sergenti and the vector in the case of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis is Phlebotomus papatasi[7]. About 350 million people are at risk of cutaneous leishmaniasis worldwide and disease is reported from 100 countries. The prevalence rate is estimated about 12 million people around the world and the incidence rate is 2 million people per year. About 90% of cutaneous leishmaniasis is reported from ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the epidemiology of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Ahvaz County, capital of Khuzestan Province, and southwest of Iran over a 5-year period. Since Khuzestan Province is endemic for this disease. Methods: This is a retrospective study of cutaneous leishmaniasis cases from 2010 to 2014 referred to health care centers of Ahvaz County. Results: A total of 242 cases were studied. Out of which 59.1% were males and 40.9% were females. About 79.8% of patients resided in urban areas and 20.2% resided in rural areas. Frequencies during the years 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 were 8.7%, 33.5%, 44.1%, 9.9% and 35.5%, respectively. The maximum number of cutaneous leishmaniasis patients was observed in winter. About 47.1% of lesions were on hands, 18.2% on feet, 11.6% on face, 21.5% on two organs and 1.7% on more than two organs. Conclusions: In this study 59.1% of patients were males and this may due to their job, more contact with Leishmania vectors and wearing fewer cloths. Most of the lesions were placed in hands, feet and face. Therefore the necessity of choosing the appropriate clothing, using mosquito nets seem to be important. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Article history: Received 2 Jun 2015 Received in revised form 8 Jun 2015 Accepted 15 Aug 2015 Available online 8 Jun 2016 Keywords: Epidemiology Cutaneous leishmaniasis Ahvaz Iran