a 10-year epidemiological study of human cystic echinococcosis in qazvin province, iran

Background: cystic echinococcosis (ce) is a parasitic infection with significant healthproblems and economic burden in most of developing countries. the current study aimsto investigate the 10-year prevalence of human ce and the demographic and clinicalcharacteristics of operated patients in qazvin province, iran.methods: in this cross-sectional study, the medical records of ce patients who hadundergone surgery in two hospitals of qazvin province from 2009 to 2019 were studied.findings: there was 203 ce cases in ten years, corresponding to a surgical incidence rateof 1.49 in 100,000 people. of these, 99(48.8%) were male, and 104 (51.2%) were female.patients’ age ranged from 8 to 86 years, with a mean age of 43±19.16 years. a significantlyhigher ce incidence was reported in patients aged 20-40 years. the majority of patientswere housekeeper (48.8%), and the ce was diagnosed in almost all patients by imagingtechniques. involved organs were liver (n=119, 58.6%) and lungs (n=64, 31.5%), and theirconcurrent involvement was 4.5% (n=9). the highest ce incidence was recorded in 2015(n=35, 17.2%). affected organ and number of cysts had significant association with the cerecurrence in operated patients.conclusion: the ce has had a uneven incidence trend in qazvin province during 2009-2019. a further epidemiological study is recommended to evaluate more risk factors of cefor its control in this area.