Incidence of Cystic Echinococcosis in the East Azerbaijan, Iran, During 2011-2017: A Retrospective Epidemiological Study

Objective: Cystic echinococcosis has been recognized as one of the most common zoonotic diseases in many parts of the world, which is caused by the larval stage of Echinococcus granulosus. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of Cystic echinococcosis cases in human in East Azerbaijan Province, Iran, during 2011-2017. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive epidemiologic study included seven-year period and investigated variables such as age, gender, involved organs, mortality, residential place types of patients and relations between these data. Data of the patients who had referred to the referral hospital in the East Azerbaijan, Iran with hydatid cysts were evaluated. Results: The highest percentage of the cases were females (56.2%). The most common age range was 18-35 (33.5%). Liver was the highly involved organ, in 918 cases (60.2%). The highest case number was detected in the year 2015 (17.0%), while the year 2012 (11.4%) had the least rate of cases. The rural population with the highest rate of 62.2% had the most incidence. A survey of occupations showed that housewives (19.6%) had the highest rate in terms of variety among other occupations. Conclusion: The results of this study confirmed the increasing incidence of this disease in the East Azerbaijan region. Because the disease in the region is endemic, public awareness and knowledge about the disease need to be increased in order to reduce related health problems and increase the level of prevention at the community level.