Epidemiological and clinical profiles of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Amhara National Regional State, Northwest Ethiopia: A multicenter study

Abstract Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a vector-borne disease caused by Leishmania parasites. Ethiopia is one of the top ten countries with a high load of CL. It remains the most neglected of neglected tropical disease in Ethiopia. The Amhara National Regional State (ANRS) is one of the CL hotspot areas in Ethiopia. There is limited data on the burden of CL in the region. This study determined the epidemiology and clinical profiles of CL in ANRS. Method: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted from April to October 2023 in eight Leishmaniasis Treatment Centres (LTCs). A data review was done from patients presenting to these centres between June 2018 and July 2023. Demographic and clinical data were collected from the CL registration logbook. Descriptive statistics was used to describe relevant variables. Chi-square test and logistic regression were performed using SPSS-23. Result: A total of 1729 CL patients were recorded. The overall burden of CL per 10,000 outpatients was 900. Males accounted for 66% of the total CL patients. More cases were recorded among 15–29 age group. Most of the patients (71.1%) presented with localised cutaneous leishmaniasis (LCL). The patients were from 112 districts. About 12% of the patients lived with the disease for over a year without treatment. The skin lesion was ≥4mm in 60% of the patients. Multiple-time comer patients accounted for 13.2% of the patients. Patients with <6 months of duration of illness had 4.5 times bigger lesion size than those patients with ≥ 24 months of duration of illness. Duration of illness <6 months and 6–12 months showed a significant association with lesion size. Conclusion: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is still a major public health problem in ANRS. Large scale community based study is required to determine the actual burden of CL in the region.