21. Prevalence of cutaneous leishmaniasis in suspected population of District Peshawar Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan
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Abstract
The present study was performed for the purpose of exposing the prevalence of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis across district Peshawar. The study was fulfilled by a collection of 1023 prepared smear slides for seeking Leishmania parasite in the lesions containing population. Microscopic examination was carried out and 370 (36.17%) cases were confirmed positive and in the remaining 653 (63.83%) cases no evidence of parasite was observed. The study was analyzed through different angles of prevalence such as gender wise which concluded; male=18.48%, female=17.69%, age wise where maximum witness of parasite was observed in pre-school aged (14.56%) and school going aged individuals (6-15%). Whereas, month-wise statistics showed 9.38% cases in March and 8.70% in April however, the least number of infections occurred in June (2.93%) followed by July (2.34%). Further molecular study is needed to analyze the genotypes of the Leishmania parasites in the studied area.
Keywords: Cutaneous Leishmaniasis; Leishmania; Peshawar; Smear formation