Visceral Leishmaniasis in Rural Areas of Alborz Province of Iran and Implication to Health Policy

The Korean Journal of Parasitology
Aliehsan HeidariHosein Reisi

Abstract

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) or kala-azar mainly affects children in endemic areas. This study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of VL using direct agglutination test (DAT) in children living in rural districts of Alborz Province located 30 km from Tehran capital city of Iran. Multi-stage cluster random sampling was applied. Blood samples were randomly collected from 1,007 children under 10 years of age in the clusters. A total of 37 (3.7%) of the studied population showed anti-Leishmania infantum antibodies with titers of ≥1:800. There was a significant association between positive sera and various parts of the rural areas of Alborz Province (P<0.002). Two children with anti-Leishmania infantum antibodies titers of ≥1:3,200 indicated kala-azar clinical features and treated with anti-leishmaniasis drugs in pediatric hospital. The findings of this study indicated that Leishmania infection is prevalent in rural areas of Alborz Province. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the awareness and alertness among physicians and public health managers, particularly in high-risk rural areas of the province in Iran.

References

Oct 1, 1986·The Journal of Infectious Diseases·R BadaróW D Johnson
Apr 23, 2005·Veterinary Parasitology·Mehdi MohebaliMehdi Fakhar
Feb 24, 2006·Pediatrics International : Official Journal of the Japan Pediatric Society·Gönül TanirEda Dağlar
Aug 24, 2010·International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents·Jose A Ruiz Postigo
Jun 14, 2012·PloS One·Jorge AlvarUNKNOWN WHO Leishmaniasis Control Team
Aug 10, 2013·Euro Surveillance : Bulletin Européen Sur Les Maladies Transmissibles = European Communicable Disease Bulletin·K Šiško-KraljevićV Punda-Polić
May 17, 2014·Clinical Epidemiology·Paul D Ready
Jun 21, 2014·PloS One·Amel AdelMarleen Boelaert

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Jul 16, 2016·Case Reports in Infectious Diseases·Gholamreza PouladfarAnahita Sanaei Dashti
Apr 9, 2019·Journal of Parasitic Diseases : Official Organ of the Indian Society for Parasitology·Leyli Zanjirani FarahaniZahra Kakooei
Jan 4, 2021·Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases·Mosayeb RostamianShahab Rezaeian

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Methods Mentioned

BETA
bone marrow aspirations

Software Mentioned

SPSS

Related Concepts