Epidemiology and Risk Factors of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in the West Bank, Palestine: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background Leishmaniasis Is a vector-borne disease caused by obligate intracellular protozoan flagellate parasite, that is transmitted by the bite of infected female phlebotomine sandflies. Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is endemic in the Middle East, it’s a major public health concern in Palestine, the current control strategies for Leishmaniasis depend on reservoir and vector control, active case detection and treatment of their disease and the use of insecticides.

This study aims to describe the epidemiology, clinical features, and risk factors of CL in the West Bank, Palestine, from 2020 to 2023.

A retrospective study included all cases of CL that had been reported to the Leishmaniasis Surveillance System in the Department of preventive medicine at the Palestinian Ministry of Health during the period from 2020 to 2023. A total of 322 cases were reported and met the case definition. demographic details, lesion characteristics, and environmental risk factors., Independent t-test and ANOVA were used to obtain the differences between the groups according to lesion duration, number of lesion. Findings A total of 322 cases of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis were diagnosed in preventive medicine departments in West bank during the period 2020 till 2023, the ages of patients ranges between less than one year to 82 years old, most cases were young, with mean age of 24 years old, the male to female ratio was 3:2, most patients were illiterate,. The number of skin lesions was significantly higher in males, farmers and most patients have face lesions mainly nodules. while the duration of the skin lesions was significantly higher in older patients.

CL is endemic in the West Bank. Public health strategies should emphasize early detection, community awareness, and targeted vector control measures. Funding No funding was provided for this research. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Funding Statement This study did not receive any funding Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: Ethical approval was obtained from the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Persons were anonmyized. I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes Data Availability All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors All data produced in the present work are contained in the manuscript Abbreviations - MOH - Ministry of Health - CI - Cutaneous Leishmaniasis