title: Epidemiological and Clinical Characteristics of Patients with Hydatid Cysts in Khorasan Razavi Province, from 2011 to 2014.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study aimed to investigate the epidemiological and clinical aspects of patients with hydatid cyst during 2011 to 2014.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study was conducted in Khorasan Razavi Province, the Northeast of Iran, from 2011 to 2014. The study population was all cases with hydatid cyst who diagnosed in governmental and private laboratories, hospitals and health centers (HC) in Khorasan Razavi Province during 2011-14.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence rate of hydatidosis was 1.44 per 100000 individuals. Of 357 cases, 54.9% were women, 40.3% rural, 45.8% housewives, and 3.4% were Afghan. The mean age of women was higher than that of men (39.13±18.9 compared to 34.7±17.9 yr, respectively,P-value=0.025). The highest proportion of cases (39.2%) was in the age group of 21-40 yr old. Abdominal pain was reported in 42.3% of cases. Liver involvement was the most common localization of hydatid cyst reported in 59.4% of patients, and 8.4% had multiple organ involvement. The common diagnosis methods of the disease were radiology (42.3%) followed by CT scan (37.8%). 45.9% of patients had domestic dog and hygiene principles of washing the vegetables was adhered by 6.7% of patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of human hydatidosis, as a most important neglected disease, should be considered by health policy-makers in public health domain. In addition, educational programs to better recognition of the disease symptoms, and to identify the infection sources are needed in high risk group of population.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
authors.forename: Salman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khazaei
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Epidemiology, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Shahab
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rezaeian
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Kurdistan, Iran.
authors.forename: Zaher
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Khazaei
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Kurdistan, Iran.
authors.forename: Elham
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Goodarzi
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Paramedicine, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran.
authors.forename: Somayeh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khazaei
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Social Medicine, School of Medicine, Dezful University of Medical Sciences, Dezful, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mohammadian
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Public Health, School of Public Health, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran; Minimally Invasive Surgery Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Salehiniya
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Erfan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ayubi
authors.affiliation: Social Determinants in Health Promotion Research Center, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran; Dept. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Abdollah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mohammadian-Hafshejani
keywords: Echinococcosis; Epidemiology; Human hydatidosis; Iran