Seroprevalence of Visceral Leishmaniasis in Children Up To 12 Years Old of Rural Areas from Kermanshah Province, Western Part of Iran

Kaveh  Sedaghatmanesh; Hooshang  Khazan; Behnaz  Akhoundi; Sasan  Khazaei; Zahra  Kakooei; Mehdi  Mohebali

doi:10.18502/ijpa.v18i1.12384

Kaveh Sedaghatmanesh Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Hooshang Khazan Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Behnaz Akhoundi Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Sasan Khazaei Department of Parasitology and Entomology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
Zahra Kakooei Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mehdi Mohebali Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijpa.v18i1.12384

Keywords: Sero-prevalence; Visceral leishmaniasis; Children; Iran

Abstract

Background: After the earthquake in 2017 a few new cases of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) were reported from SarPol-e-Zahab district of Kermanshah Province, western part of Iran. This study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence in Kermanshah Province.

Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on children up to 12 years of age from SarPol-e-Zahab County, Kermanshah Province, western part of Iran in 2021. For each individual, a questionnaire including age, sex, clinical features, history of the disease, and contact with canines as reservoir hosts of VL were completed, separately. To determine VL seroprevalence, blood samples were collected from the children and after centrifugation, the sera samples were separated and tested using Direct Agglutination Test (DAT) for detection of anti-L. infantum antibodies. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS16.

Results: Totally, 13 persons were seropositive; 7 samples with titer 1:800, 3 samples had 1:1600, 2 samples had 1:3200 and 1 sample had 1:6400. None of the seropositive cases had a history of kala-azar. There was no significant difference between males and females at titers of anti-Leishmania specific antibodies.

Conclusion: L. infantum infection is being circulated with low prevalence in children up to 12 years old from SarPol-e-Zahab County but it is necessary that the surveillance system is regularly monitored among physicians and public health managers in the studied areas.