The Outbreaks of Cutaneous leishmaniasis in District Malakand, KPK, Pakistan: Epidemiology and Clinical Features

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is caused by a vector-borne flagellated protozoan of genus Leishmania, which is the one of the most prevalent skin diseases all over the world. This is one of the severe mistreated tropical diseases, widely distributed in tropical and subtropical countries of the world. The purpose of the study was to determine the recent epidemiological emergences of Cutaneous leishmaniasis in district Malakand. In the current study, 1243 samples of Cutaneous leishmaniasis were collected from DHQ hospital Malakand (Batkhela), THQ Dargai, and different health care units between January 2018 and July 2019. The admitted patients were treated in an isolated ward specified for Leishmaniasis patients. The presence of amastigotes was confirmed by Giemsa staining followed by light microscopy. The highest incidence was observed in the age group 1-15 years (>54%; n=671) and the infection rate was found higher in females (52.1%; n=1243) as compared to males (46%; n=1243). Most of the patients (57%) had a single lesion, while the remaining 53% had two (25%), multiple lesions (18%). From the current study, it can be concluded that that C. leishmaniasis is the foremost health issue for the residents of district Malakand. This data can be useful for health authorities to verdict out new C. leishmaniasis attentions and to plan effective strategies for the provision of health facilities in the study area.