Article Sidebar
Published:
Jan 11, 2025Keywords:
Article Details
While African Health Sciences has been freely accessible online there have been questions on whether it is Open Access or not. We wish to clearly state that indeed African Health Sciences is Open Access. There are key issues regarding Open Access needing clarification for avoidance of doubt:
- 1. Henceforth, papers in African Health Sciences will be published under the CC BY (Creative Commons Attribution License) 4.0 International. See details on https://creativecomons.org/)
- 2. The copyright owners or the authors grant the 3rd party (perpetually and in advance) the right to disseminate, reproduce, or use the research papers in part or in full, format/medium as long as:
- No substantive errors are introduced in the process
- Attribution of authorship and correct citation details are given
- The referencing details are not changed.
Should the papers be reproduced in part, this must be clearly stated.
- 3. The papers will be freely and universally accessible online in an easily readable format such as XML in at least one widely recognized open access repository such as PUBMED CENTRAL.
B. ABRIDGED LICENCE AGREEMENT BETWEEN AUTHORS AND African Health Sciences
I submitted my manuscript to African Health Sciences and would like to affirm that:
1.0 I am authorized by my co-authors to enter into these arrangements.
2.0 I guarantee, on behalf of self and co-authors:
- That the paper is original, and has not been published in any other peer-reviewed journal; nor is it under consideration by other journal (s). It does not infringe existing copyright or any other person’s rights
- That we are/I am the sole author(s) of the paper and with authority to enter into this agreement. My granting rights to African Health Sciences is not in breach of any other obligation
- That the paper contains nothing unlawful, or libelous. Nor anything that would constitute a breach of contract, confidence or commitment given to secrecy, if published
- That I/we have taken care to ensure the integrity of the article.
3.0 I and all co-authors, agree that the paper, if accepted for publication, shall be licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0. (see https://creativecommons.org/)
Main Article Content
Epidemiology and future risk estimates of cutaneous leishmaniasis in district Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan: analysis of data from 2019-2022
Abstract
Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), despite not being a life-threatening condition, has a devastating impact on the public health. CL is widely distributed, exhibiting a distinct epidemiological pattern all over the world. The aim of this study was to investigate CL in District Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, and to estimate the risk of epidemics.
Materials and Methods: From 2019 to 2022, 1135 CL patients' epidemiological data were collected from district health facilities. For epidemiological characterization, descriptive statistics were used. The spatial analysis was done using ArcGIS V.10.3. The relationship between CL occurrence and climatic variables was investigated using liner regression analysis.
Results: Between 2019 and 2022, there was a decline in the annual CL incidence trend. Males and people under the age of 20 were particularly susceptible. A total of 1204 lesions were identified, with 76.1% of individuals having a single lesion and 23.9% having multiple lesions. Most of the lesions were nodular and ulcerative in nature and were found on exposed body parts such as the lower extremity (34.2%) and the face (30.7%). A choropleth map revealed an increased incidence of CL in Tehsil D.I.K (63%) and Paharpur (10%). According to a digital elevation model, high altitudes have a lower prevalence of CL. For focal transmission and high-risk zones, Inverse Density Weight (IDW) spatial interplation, focal statistics, cluster, and outlier analysis validated that CL cases were high in D.I.K, Kulachi, and Paharpur tehsils. Increased temperature, relative humidity, and precipitation were not significantly associated with CL infection.
Conclusions: The study provided essential details for public health sectors to develop intervention strategies for future CL outbreaks.
Keywords: Cutaneous leishmaniasis; spatiotemporal analysis; Pakistan.
