Seroepidemiological survey of Visceral leishmaniasis among nomadic tribes of Kerman Province, Southeastern Iran: An observational study for implication to health policy

Background Aim: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) or kala-azar is a parasitic disease caused by the species of Leishmania donovani complex. Mediterranean type of disease is endemic in some parts of Iran and more than 95% of seropositivity cases were reported in children up to 12 years of age. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of VL in nomadic tribe’s population of the Kerman Province. Methods Materials: Totally, 862 blood samples were collected from children up to 12 years old from nomadic tribes of the studied area. Before sampling, a questionnaire was filled out for each case. All the collected blood samples were examined after the plasma separating by direct agglutination test for detection of anti-Leishmania infantum antibodies. The cut-off titer of ≥ 1:3200 with specific clinical features was considered as VL. Results: Altogether, 25 (2.6%) of the collected plasma samples showed anti-Leishmania antibodies at titers ≥ 1:800 and 6 of them (0.6%) showed titers ≥ 1:3200 with mild clinical manifestations. None of the seropositive cases had a history of kala-azar. Children of 5-8 years old showed the highest seroprevalence rate (4.1%). Also, there were not any significant differences between the rate of seropositivity in males (0.58%) and females (0.67%), (P = 0.225). Conclusion: Although the seroprevalence of VL is relatively low in children up to 12 years old from nomadic tribes of the studied area, due to the importance of the disease, the surveillance system should be monitored by health authorities.