Meta-Analysis
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World J Methodol. Jul 20, 2022; 12(4): 305-318
Published online Jul 20, 2022. doi: 10.5662/wjm.v12.i4.305
Prevalence of human leishmaniasis in Sudan: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Musa Ahmed, Abdullah Abdulslam Abdullah, Idris Bello, Suad Hamad, Aboelgassim Bashir
Musa Ahmed, Abdullah Abdulslam Abdullah, Idris Bello, Department of Reproductive Health Sciences, Pan African University Life and Earth Sciences Institute, University of Ibadan, Ibadan 119, Oyo state, Nigeria
Musa Ahmed, Department of Veterinary Surgery and Anaesthesia, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, ALsalam University, Al-fula 120, West Kordofan state, Sudan
Abdullah Abdulslam Abdullah, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Gadarif, Gadarif 208, Sudan
Idris Bello, Department of Animal Health and Production Technology, Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology, Igboora 120, Oyo state, Nigeria
Suad Hamad, Department of Zoonotic Disease and Disease Control, Ministry of Animal Resources, Al-Hamadi 215, South Kordofan state, Sudan
Aboelgassim Bashir, Department of Pre-Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, AL-Salam University, Al-Fulla 209, West Kordofan state, Sudan
Author contributions: Ahmed M, Abdulslam Abdullah A, Bello I, Hamad S, and Bashir A conceived and designed the review, developed the search strings, and rigorously reviewed the manuscript; Ahmed M, Abdulslam Abdullah A, and Hamad S carried out the draft of the manuscript; Abdulslam Abdullah A is the guarantor of the review; Ahmed M and Abdulslam Abdullah A screened and selected studies, extracted the data, evaluated the quality of the studies, and carried out analysis and interpretation.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declared no potential conflict of interest concerning the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Abdullah Abdulslam Abdullah, MSc, Academic Research, Lecturer, Department of Reproductive Health Sciences, Pan African University Life and Earth Sciences Institute, University of Ibadan, Ibadan- Oyo state Nigeria, Ibadan 119, Oyo state, Nigeria. bahlol32029@gmail.com
Received: December 6, 2021
Peer-review started: December 6, 2021
First decision: January 25, 2022
Revised: January 31, 2022
Accepted: June 26, 2022
Article in press: June 26, 2022
Published online: July 20, 2022
Processing time: 225 Days and 19.2 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

The prevalence of human leishmaniasis varies widely in different countries and in different regions of the same country. To date, there is no overall estimation of the prevalence of human leishmaniasis in Sudan

Research motivation

The lack of evidence about human leishmaniasis in Sudan may prevent health care policymakers and stakeholders from developing and adopting a suitable prevention program.

Research objectives

The objective of this study was to find the pooled prevalence of leishmaniasis and its associated factors among Sudanese citizens.

Research methods

A systematic literature search was conducted before the 4th of August 2021, from Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and MEDLINE, African Journals Online (AJOL), ResearchGate, direct Google search, Google Scholar, and universities websites.

Research results

A total of 20 articles were included in this meta-analysis after 220 articles had been subjected to full-text evaluations, and the overall pooled prevalence of human leishmaniasis in Sudan was 21% (with confidence interval 12%-30%).

Research conclusions

Human leishmaniasis infection is still endemic in many regions in Sudan and is highly prevalent in central and eastern Sudan, and cutaneous leishmaniasis is the most prevalent in the country.

Research perspectives

More studies need to be done in Sudan to cover all epidemiological aspects of the disease in humans and animals under the umbrella of one health approach, with special emphasis on the health and economic impacts of the disease.