A cross sectional survey to indicate factors associated with kala-azar in human at fulbaria upazilla of Mymenshing, Bangladesh

Abstract

    A cross-sectional survey was carried out in the people of eight selected villages of Fulbaria upazila, Mymemsigh district where occurrences of kala-azar were reported over the last 5 years. To assess the risk factors of the disease, a total of 385 randomly selected individuals in the said kala-azar prone area were assessed with a pre tested questionnaire. The results showed that 19% of the kala-azar cases developed post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis. Among the kala-azar positive respondents 30.4% were male, and 21.2% female. Children less than 10 years of age (36.76%) were recorded with a relatively higher risk and the frequency of kala-azar get decreased with increment of age (p=0.0057). People who reared domestic animals and had animal sheds in vicinity of their houses had a higher prevalence (33.0%) (p= 0.0019). Other factors associated with a higher risk included no knowledge about sand fly (p= 0.02), sleeping on bed during night, living in mud house and small-sized family. Interestingly, mosquito curtain users experienced a higher frequency (26.3%) of kala-azar compared with non- users (15.38%). The causalities of the identified factors need to be investigated further to formulate an effective public health policy against kala-azar in that area, and the need for a well-structured case-control study was stressed.