Visceral Leishmaniasis in Rural Areas of Alborz Province of Iran and Implication to Health Policy.
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.
Department of Parasitology, School of Medicine, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran.|SDH Reseach Center, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran.
Aliehsan
A
Heidari
Center for Research of Endemic Parasites of Iran (CREPI), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.|Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
Mehdi
M
Mohebali
SDH Reseach Center, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran.|Department of Social Medicine, School of Medicine, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran.
Kourosh
K
Kabir
Center of Against Infectious Diseases, Health Depatment, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran.
Hojatallah
H
Barati
Department of Parasitology, School of Medicine, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran.
Yousef
Y
Soultani
Center for Research of Endemic Parasites of Iran (CREPI), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.|Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
Hossein
H
Keshavarz
Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
Behnaz
B
Akhoundi
Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
Homa
H
Hajjaran
Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
Hosein
H
Reisi
D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D018314:Leishmania infantum / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D012423:Rural Health; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan
Iran; Kala-azar; Leishmania infantum; human; visceral leishmaniasis