Retrospective study of cutaneous leishmaniasis in tiaret (northwest of algeria)

Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne, Zoonotic and re-emerging disease that is transmitted via female sandflies and caused by intracellular flagellated protozoa of the genus Leishmania. This disease is mainly classified as a major parasitosis in tropical and subtropical regions. Among all clinical types of leishmaniasis, the cutaneous form (CL) is by far the more widely distributed. A ten-years retrospective study was conducted by extracting information from the Directorate of Public Health of the province of Tiaret, from 2010 to 2020. Data were extracted from the leishmaniasis cases registration book and summarized using Microsoft office Excel (2019). The study highlighted the distribution of CL cases by year, season, gender, age categories and origin. Over the period studied, a minimum of 23 and a maximum of 112 cases per year were recorded (from 2010 to 2020). The results of the present retrospective study from 2016 to 2020 showed that the maximum number of cases was observed in autumn and winter. The age group under 10 recorded the highest number of cases (134 cases), followed by those over 50 and 11 to 20 with 64 and 63 cases, respectively. However, the male sex was the most affected with a rate of 60%. This study allows us to conclude that cutaneous leishmaniasis is widespread in the Tiaret region with an annual distribution and the seasons autumn and winter are the most favorable to their appearance, the age group less than or equal to 10 years and the male sex is the most affected. Other descriptive and epidemiological studies are needed to evaluate the exact incidence of this disease and improve future public health strategies aimed to control cutaneous leishmaniasis.