The Sociodemographic, Living and Environmental Characteristics of Patients with Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

Abstract

Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a parasitic skin disease caused by various leishmaniasis species. Material and Methods: In this study, the clinical, sociodemographic, living and environmental characteristics of 4048 cutaneous leshmaniasis patients are presented. A retrospective evaluation was made of 4048 cutaneous leishmaniasis patients in terms of gender, lesion diameter (mm), number of lesions, duration of lesions (weeks) and living conditions, then statistical analysis was applied. Results: The cutaneous leismaniasis patients comprised 52.47% female and 47.53% males with a mean age of 16.48±0.23 years. The mean duration of the disease was 9.62±0.33 weeks, lesion diameter was 12.197±0.10 mm and mean number of lesions was 1.75±0.02. The number of people in the patient’s family was generally 5-10 and the number of rooms in the house was 2-3 for 70.63% of patients. The vast majority of the cutaneous leishmaniasis patients, 96.96%, lived in a lowland plains area and no patient lived in wetlands. The types of houses were of concrete construction in 94.94% and stone in 1.61% and 1.41% lived in an apartment block. Animals were reported to be kept in the living area of 17.02% of patients and of those, 2.30% had a WC. Conclusion: The determination of an excessive number of Phlebotomus in areas of low socio-economic living conditions and the high incidence of cases in these areas has revealed a direct, positive relationship between cutaneous leishmaniasis disease and the socio-economic conditions of the patients.