demiological survey of visceral leishmaniasis (Kala-Azar) in Ardabil province during 2012-2016

Introduction: Leishmaniasis is one of neglected tropical disease divided into visceral, cutaneous and muco-cutanous forms. Visceral leishmaniasis, is the most acute form of leishmaniasis which is fatal if not diagnosed early and left untreated. At the present time, VL caused by Leishmania infantum is recognized as an important parasitic disease in Iran. The VL is endemic in five provinces of the country, including Ardabil, East Azerbaijan, Fars, Bushehr and Qom provinces. The aim of the study was to review the seroepidemiological studies of VL in Ardabil province during 2012-2016. Method: In this descriptive, analytical study, studies which have been carried out from 1986 through 2009 in Northwestern Iran about clinical, diagnostic and epidemiological features of Kala azar, using DAT, were reviewed. Collected data were analyzed using the SPSS 21 software. Results: In total, 48 of human visceral leishmaniasis were detected by direct agglutination test (DAT) in Ardabil province, 20 (41.6%) of them were from Meshkin-shahr district, 18 (37.5%) cases were from Moghan district (parsabad and germi), and 10 (20.9%) cases were from Ardabil district. 25(52%) were been were hospitalized in pediatric wards. Ninety eight percent of the cases were under 10 years old while only 0.5% of the VL cases were 20 years old and 17% of them were under 1 year of age. Conclusion: Currently, Kala-Azar is the most important endemic disease in Northwestern of Iran, particularly in Ardabil province. On the other hand, the disease was seen in new foci such as Parsabad and must be noticed carefully.

کلیدواژه ها:

Visceral Leishmaniasis (kala-azar) ، Seroepidemiology ، Human ، Ardabil