Volume 27, Issue 140, October 2023

Community awareness towards Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Al- Jouf region, Saudi Arabia

Bashayer Farhan ALruwaili¹, Amany A Ghazy^2♦, Zainab Mohammed Almohammed³, Reema Hamad A Alhabi³, Gheod Talal Tneean Alrwely³, Waten Koetar Alkoekbe³

¹Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Al-Jouf University, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
²Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology Division, College of Medicine, Al-Jouf University, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
³College of Medicine, Al-Jouf University, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology Division, College of Medicine, Al-Jouf University, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a parasitic disease with variable clinical manifestations that usually end with disfiguring scars leading to social and psychological stigma. Saudi Arabia is considered one of the endemic countries and has established the leishmaniasis control program to control this disease. Aim: The study aimed to assess the community knowledge about Cutaneous leishmaniasis in Al-Jouf region, Saudi Arabia. Participants and Method: This study involves 540 participants and an online questionnaire distributed to all participants during 2022 and 2023. Results: All age groups participated in answering the questionnaire. It was noted that a high percentage of the participants were females (87%), have a Bachelor’s degree in education (67%), live in Sakaka (56%), and work as a government employee (43.5%), and family members in the same house were ranging between 6 to 12 (60%). Results clarified that 30% of the participants had no idea about CL. More than half of the participants do not know Sandflies (92.4%), transmission of CL (70%), clinical manifestations of CL (65%), disease severity (73%), or if it can be prevented or not (70%). Fortunately, 95% have not been infected with CL and this indicates the presence of efficient prevention and control program. With respect to the infected participants (5%), they suffered from scares (1-6) in the face (3%), hands (1%), and feet (1%). Conclusion: There’s a lack of community awareness about Cutaneous leishmaniasis, risk factors, transmission, and preventive measures in Al-Jouf region.

Keywords: Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, Community awareness, Al-jouf region, Saudi Arabia

Medical Science, 2023, 27, e360ms3188

PDF

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi.v27i140.e360ms3188

Published: 03 October 2023