Prevalence of Cercarial Dermatitis among Paddy-Field Workers in Central Areas of Mazandaran Province

Background and Objective: Cercarial dermatitis (CD) or swimmer’s itchis a hypersensitive reaction to the skin penetration of avian and herbivorousschistosomes, esp. genus Trichobilharzia. Owing to presence of bothintermediate and final host of this parasite in North of Iran, we aimed atdetermining the prevalence of CD among paddy-field workers in centralareas of Mazandaran Province.Material and Methods: To perform this descriptive-cross sectional study,we refer to bird refuges of migrating water and Paddy-field around manmadeponds of Babol, Sari, Ghaemshahr and Savadkoh districts. The Handand foot of the farmers were examined clinically for detection of infectedpeople and their signs and symptoms were recorded on a sheet of paper.Results: Based on the results, 77.5 % of the workers suffer from CD. Allof them are males and the majority of them are indigenous.Conclusion: High prevalence of Cercarial dermatitis among paddy-fieldworkers led to a health dilemma. Thus, by increasing awareness of farmers,implementing suitable approaches, controlling the disease and sanitizing thecontaminated areas can promote health situation.Keywords: Trichobilharzia; Avian Schistosomiasis; Cercaria Dermatitis;Paddy-Field Workers ItchThis