Cutaneous leishmaniasis: a 46-year study of the epidemiology and clinical features in Saudi Arabia (1956–2002)

Abstract

Cutaneous leishmaniasis attained epidemic proportions in 1973 and subsequently declined and reached a plateau in the mid-1980s. Skin involvement is the major clinical picture, with no evidence of dissemination or viscerotropic syndrome.

Epidemiological studies on cutaneous leishmaniasis in Ad- Dawadimi District, Saudi Arabia

“…Majority of the CL cases presented with single facial lesions. These finding are similar to those of Al-Tawfiq and Abu Khamsin [7]. Most recent epidemiological studies in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Israel revealed a similar trend, with single lesions on the face or limbs being the most common form of presentation [7,[9][10][11][12].…”

“…In general, CL tended to affect the younger age group in most endemic areas. In two previous studies [2,[4][5][6][7], majority of the cases occurred in people aged less than 15 -20 years. This is similar to findings in other studies [10,13,14].…”

“…Al-Tawfiq and Abu Khamsin [7] had conducted a very comprehensive 46-year study on Leishmania cases in Saudi Arabia. They showed that CL had a very high incidence, almost reaching epidemic proportions in 1973 and thereafter declining to a plateau in the mid1980s.…”

Epidemiological and Serological Study of Leishmaniasis in Najran Region, Saudi Arabia

“…Climate and other environmental changes have the potential to expand the geographic range of the sand fly vectors and the areas in the world where leishmaniasis is found (Elnaiem et al, 2003). Very little is known about identification of visceral Leishmanisis in Saudi Arabia but there was many studies in cutaneous Leishmanisis (Bienzle et al, 1978;Al-Zahrani et al, 1979;Buttiker et al, 1982;Peters et al, 1985;Peters and Al-Zahrani, 1987;Dye et al, 1989;Al-Zahrani et al, 1989, Morsy et al, 1991Al-Shammari et al, 1992;Al-Tawfiq and Abukhamsin, 2004). In Makkah, Saudi Arabia, Leishmania isolates were characterized from Makkah Al-mukarramah specialized hospital (Morsy et al, 1993).…”

Exploring recent spatial patterns of cutaneous leishmaniasis and their associations with climate in some countries of the Middle East using geographical information systems

“…In the above mentioned four countries, CL is considered to be endemic even if there are only sporadic outbreaks at different time intervals in different localities (Adler and Theodor, 1929;Douba et al, 1997;Al-Tawfiq and AbuKhamsin, 2004;AlSamarai and AlObaidi, 2009;Mosleh et al, 2009). Two forms of CL are present (Saliba et al, 1994;Janini et al, 1995;WHO, 2008;Postigo, 2010;WHO, 2011b), the first of which is zoonotic as the parasite is transmitted by the vector from a range of animals to humans.…”