Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Acta Parasitologica https://doi.org/10.2478/s11686-020-00198-y ORIGINAL PAPER Epidemiology, Associated Factors and Treatment Methods of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Based on Previous Data from 2013 to 2018 in Ilam, Western Iran Nasrin Rezaee 1  · Vahid Raissi 2  · Ahmad Rajaeipour 3  · Mehdi Nazari 4  · Muhammad Getso 5,6  · Ali Taghipour 7  · Omid Raiesi 2  · Asmaa Ibrahim 8 Received: 26 September 2019 / Accepted: 11 March 2020 © Witold Stefański Institute of Parasitology, Polish Academy of Sciences 2020 Abstract Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the epidemiology, clinical presentation and types of treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in the province of Ilam (Western Iran) in 5 years (from May 2013 to January 2018). This cross-sectional study involved patients diagnosed with CL who were referred to Mehran City Health center. Methods All patients were diagnosed by clinical and parasitological (Giemsa staining of lesion to observe the parasite) methods. Moreover, a structured questionnaire on demographic data including age, sex, occupation, number and site of the lesions, treatment regimen was administered to each case. Results In total, 2001 positive CL cases were observed in this study. The highest prevalence of CL was reported in the autumn season and mainly among male subjects residing in urban communities. The prevalence of CL varied with the age group: higher in the age group of 1–10 years than other groups. Besides, hands and faces were the most afected regions of the body. Most of the cases (47.35%) were managed by topical treatment (glucantime) and cryotherapy followed by systemic treatment (pentavalent antimony) 26.85%. Conclusions The prevalence of disease varied with age, increasing the prevalence rate in children due to their habitats, the highest prevalence in autumn due to climatic conditions. These fndings help to better discuss the prevention and treatment of infections. Keywords Cutaneous leishmaniasis · Epidemiology · Treatment · Iran Introduction Leishmaniasis is reorganized as the fourth cause of morbid- ity among all tropical diseases [1]. According to the World Health Organization, leishmaniasis is ranked as a neglected tropical disease [2, 3]. Cutaneous leishmaniasis prevalence is high in Iran’s provinces, it estimates between 1.8 and 37.9% in diferent rural province areas especially in chil- dren [4]. While Leishmania major and Leishmania tropica are responsible for CL infection, there are several studies * Vahid Raissi vahidraissi66@gmail.com * Asmaa Ibrahim chemistasmaain@gmail.com 1 Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran 2 Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 3 Bachelor of Public Health, School of Public Health, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran 4 Bachelor of Public Health, School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 5 Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Health Sciences, Bayero University, PMB 3011, Kano, Nigeria 6 Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran 7 Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medical Science, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran 8 Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute, University of Sadat city, Sadat, Egypt