The experience of leishmanization in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Abstract

Leishmanization programmes in a hyperendemic area [Isfahan] and a high-risk group [army recruits and the Revolutionary Guard] are described and their effectiveness and complications are discussed. A trial of a non-living crude vaccine is outlined. More than two million people underwent leishmanization and it was found to reduce the incidence of the disease between one-sixth and one-eighth of its original level. The procedure is recommended whenever people are at a very high risk of contracting the disease