Leishmania tropica and Leishmania major are both the main cause of anthroponotic (ACL) and zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL), respectively, in the Old World. Leishmania infantum and Leishmania donovani, which are important causes of visceral leishmaniasis, have also occasionally been reported in CL patients. The present study investigates the current distribution of causative species of CL in Iran and neighboring countries in the Middle East. There has been expansion of L. tropica into new urban and rural foci in Iran, with well-documented cases of visceralization, a substantial increase of CL in Syria, and the emergence of new foci and outbreaks in Turkey and Iraq, especially due to L. major. Civil war in Syria and Iraq, population movement, poverty, and climatic change play important roles in the changing CL distribution in this region. Control programs should adopt a multidisciplinary approach based on active surveillance and case finding, especially in vulnerable refugee populations, determination of hazard maps for CL hot points using GIS and other advanced technology, the free distribution of drugs, rodent control, and greater community engagement in poor and marginalized populations. Comprehensive molecular studies that could show the species and strains of Leishmania in different areas of each country can give a better view from the distribution of CL in this region.

Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) is an endemic parasitic disease and remains as a major health concern in southwestern Iran. The current study describes clinico-hematological, epidemiological and therapeutic features of VL cases, admitted to university-affiliated hospitals, during 1999–2014 in Fars province, southwestern Iran. A total of 380 VL cases were recorded during a 16 years period, giving an average annual admission of 23.75 cases/year in which 217 (57.1%) were male and 163 (42.9%) were female. Mean age of the patients was 3.7 years. The majority of the cases (91.5%) were ≤ 5 years old. Bone-marrow aspiration detected Leishmania amastigotes only in 26.6% of cases. Fever (98.1%), abdominal protrusion (65.1%) and hepatosplenomegaly (63.7%) were the most common clinical presentations of the patients. Pancytopenia was noted in 43.1, anemia in 87.3 and thrombocytopenia in 64% of cases. Increase in the level of AST (aspartate aminotransferase), ALT (alanine aminotransferase), alkaline phosphatase, LDH (lactate dehydrogenase) and CRP (C-Reactive Proteins) were seen in 84.9, 53.6, 44.4, 72.5 and 83.1% of cases, respectively. Mortality was noted in 5.3% of cases. Deranged haemato-biochemical parameters including total and direct bilirubin, PLT (platelet) and pancytopenia were significantly contributed to mortality from VL. Moreover, clinical features such as severe splenomegaly as well as bacterial infections were meaningfully contributed to death from VL. The majority of patients (74.9%) were treated with meglumine antimoniate. Amphotericin B was administrated in 59 of cases, 11 of them were initially treated with meglumine antimoniate with a shift to amphotericin B, because of treatment failure. Findings of the current study demonstrated that VL is present in southwest of Iran with a fairly continual rate during the last 16 years period. Deranged haemato-biochemical parameters along with severe splenomegaly contributed to mortality from VL.

Distribution of CL cases is influenced by combination of environmental, ecological factors and close proximity to livestock sheds but control programs should be focused on cities and villages in the above-mentioned most high risk regions.

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