Epidemiological shift in leprosy in a rural district of central India following introduction of multi-drug therapy (April 1986 to March 1992 and April 1992 to March 2002)

This study compares the epidemiological pattern of leprosy in pre- (April 1986 to March 1992) and post- (April 1992 to March 2002) multi-drug therapy (MDT) periods by retrospective analysis of 3274 registered leprosy cases in the rural field area of Regional Leprosy Training & Research Institute (RLTRI), situated in Raipur district of Chattisgarh province of Central India. The area has high endemicity for leprosy. In the post-MDT period, prevalence rate (PR) came down to less than 1 in 10, while New Case Detection Rate (NCDR) remained almost static during the two periods. Of the total new registered cases, 30.1% were registered during the pre-MDT period and the remaining 69.9% during the post-MDT period. Comparison of key leprosy variables among new registered cases showed a 2-fold rise in the proportion of MB cases (14.8 versus 27.6%), 3.0% increase in proportion of child cases (15.3 versus 18.6%) and cases with deformity grade II (3.1 versus 5.9%) and 4.0% increase in female proportion (41.4 versus 45.7%) during the post-MDT period. A decline was noted in mean age of registration for both MB (6.4 years) and PB (5.7 years) groups in the post-MDT period. While comparing treatment and outcome related variables, a marked fall of 25.8 months was recorded in treatment duration in the post-MDT period. The defaulter rate came down by 45.0% and relapse rate by more than 12.0% during the same period. The study shows that MDT is effective operationally, but continued ongoing transmission of infection and delayed diagnosis needs corrective action.     

贵州省新发麻风病患者特征分析

目的了解贵州省低流行状态下新发麻风患者特征,为今后发现更多早期麻风患者,有效降低2级残疾比提供科学的依据。方法采用统一问卷进行现场一对一的调查,并将患者调查问卷和病案信息录入EXCEL表格建立数据库,用SPSS18.0软件进行分析。结果贵州省2012-2018新发的387例麻风患者中,男281例,女106例,男∶女=2.65∶1,14岁及以下患者占4.13%,平均延迟期为43.80个月。周围神经受损主要有尺神经311例(80.36%)、腓总神经176例(45.48%)、耳大神经125例(32.30%),皮损主要有麻木98例(25.32%)、红斑95例(24.55%)、脱眉85例(21.96%)。MB型占75.50%,MB∶PB=3.07∶1,通过比较,麻风的不同型别在性别、年龄和延迟期之间无差异,但少数民族患者的MB型显著性高于汉族(P<0.05),有明确传染源的MB型患者高于不明传染源的(P<0.05),差异均有统计学意义。病期在2年内且无疾残的早期患者为220例(56.85%),以文化程度较高(初中以上)的早期患者为主(70.59%)。不明传染源的患者2级残疾比明显高于有明确传染源的患者,差异有统计学意义(P<0.001),延迟期越长,残疾情况越严重。94.44%的14岁及以下患者均有明确的传染源接触史。结论近年来贵州省新发麻风以多菌型为主,且每年都有儿童患者被发现,仍有局部流行风险,患者延迟诊断情况较严重,急待提升医务人员识别早期麻风能力和患者接触检查质量,实现麻风患者的早期发现。     

贵阳市2005-2009年麻风新发现病例分析

目的分析贵阳市2005-2009年麻风新发病例特征,为制定麻风防控策略提供依据。方法收集贵阳市2005-2009年报告的新发现麻风病例资料,采用Excel软件进行统计分析。结果共收集新发麻风病例63例,平均发现率为0.34/10万;发病年龄以40～60岁为主,占38.10%,儿童发病4.76%,农民占82.54%。新发病例疾病诊断延误期平均为3.7年,畸残率为58.73%。结论早期发现和神经功能监测仍是麻风病防控工作的重点。此外,除继续加大麻风防治知识宣传力度外,还应重视对县、乡两级医院门诊医生的专业培训。     

2010-2020年广西新发现麻风病例流行病学特征分析

目的:分析2010-2020年广西新发现麻风病例的流行特征。方法:描述性分析2010-2020年广西全区在全国麻风防治管理信息系统中上报的新发现麻风病例的病历资料。结果:2010-2020年,广西麻风新发病例年发现率从0.13/10^(5)降至0.06/10^(5),年均下降7.1%;共发现新发麻风病例499例,其中男333例,女166例,平均年龄(44.16±16.87)岁,儿童病例12例(2.4%);2级畸残98例(19.6%),平均延迟期为27个月,早期发现比例为31.9%。发现方式以皮肤科就诊为主(347例,占69.5%),通过接触者检查发现占8.8%,传染源来自家内的病例占27.3%。14个市均有新发病例报道,百色、河池、崇左3个市报告的病例数占广西病例总数的51.9%。结论:广西新发现麻风病例数呈下降趋势,但新发病例的平均延迟期较长,需加强接触者检查、皮肤科医师培训等工作以便早期发现病例。     

Trends in detection of new leprosy cases at two centres in Himachal Pradesh, India: a ten-year study

An impressive decline in leprosy prevalence rate (PR) in all endemic districts of India is seen in the post-MDT era. However, the new case-detection rate, an important statistical indicator in leprosy control programmes, has not shown significant decline in spite of all efforts. In Himachal Pradesh, a decline in PR from 7.8 to 0.56/10000 between 1991 to 2000 is seen, and recently the State has won national acclaim for having achieved the goal of elimination of leprosy in all the districts. The vertical leprosy programme has been integrated into general health services of the state. An analysis of data from 1991 to 2000 of two leprosy control units of Himachal Pradesh, the Urban Leprosy Clinic in Shimla (ULC-S) and the District Leprosy Control Unit in Mandi (DLCU-M), showed no significant decline in the new cases detected. 277 and 271 new cases were detected at these centres respectively; these included 2.2% and 1.5% children of less than 14 years of age. Almost 75% of these cases were males and of MB type. A steadily increasing trend in the annual detection of new cases was seen at both the centres during the decade. The cases registered at DLCU-M were mainly indigenous to the district. At ULC-S, 45 migrant cases from other endemic areas-mainly from Nepal, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh-had also contributed to the increased number of new cases. Other possible causes discussed for this higher new case detection, e.g. overdiagnosis, detection of backlog "hidden cases" and voluntary reporting of patients, do not differ from those seen in other parts of the country or the world.     

Case detection, gender and disability in leprosy in Bangladesh: a trend analysis.

A trend analysis is presented of all newly detected leprosy cases over an 18-year period (1979-1996) in a highly leprosy endemic area of Bangladesh. A total of 23,678 new cases were registered, with an average of 860 new cases per year in the first 12 years, and increasing to around 3000 in 1996. The male:female (M:F) ratio decreased from 2.3 to 1.4. The proportions of newly detected cases with MB leprosy and of newly detected cases with any disability decreased over time. These reductions were more marked in the higher age groups of both sexes. The reduction in disability was primarily attributable to a decline in grade 2 disability. New case detection rates (NCDR) of all leprosy patients per 10,000 general population increased for males from 3 to 6; and for females from 1 to 4, while the NCDR of MB leprosy decreased in males from 1.4 to 0.6, and in females fluctuated around 0.45. The NCDRs of leprosy patients with disabilities showed an initial decrease in the first period, especially in males, but later showed an increase. The NCDR of males with disability was about twice as high as that of females. Finally, female NCDRs in the ages between 15 and 30 were low by comparison with the male NCDRs at the same time. This may be due to the sociocultural characteristics of the Bangladeshi society, with gender differences in exposure, health seeking behaviour and opportunities for case detection. Operational changes in the control programme have contributed to the changed profile of newly detected cases. This study shows that the application of general population statistics is essential for understanding the dynamics in leprosy control programmes under changing operational conditions. Combining case detection figures with such statistics helps to identify population groups that are possibly not benefiting sufficiently from the services provided, and to clarify the dynamics in control programmes and the future trends and programme requirements.     

广东省韶关市1996～2015年新发麻风病例流行病学分析

目的:了解广东省韶关市1996~2015年麻风病例流行学特征,为低流行状态下麻风防治工作提供依据。方法:收集近20年新发现麻风病例资料,并对其流行病学特征进行分析。结果:20年来麻风病的发现率和患病率呈下降趋势,地区分布不均衡,南雄市新发病例数最多,占总数的64.46%。从发病到确诊的平均延迟期为(58.75±64.31)个月,以多菌型为主,占73.08%,2级畸残比为23.08%,出现2级畸残者的病期显著长于无畸残者(t=2.16,P<0.05)。病例发现以门诊发现等被动发现方式为主,约占67.31%。结论:近20年来韶关市麻风流行状况已经得到有效控制。     

重复开展消除麻风运动地区的病例发现和患者临床情况分析

目的：观察湖南省西部2个麻风高流行县重复开展消除麻风运动对当地麻风患者发现及临床指标的影响。方法：收集自1997—2002年麻风新发病例，其中包括开展消除麻风运动年份的病例资料，对各年发现病人数，平均确诊年龄，畸残率，延迟期等进行比较分析。结果：从1997年至2002年共发现133例患者。平均每年发现22．2例，年发现率2．4/10万。1998年开展LEC时发现的新病人数是接近开展IEC前一年的2倍，以后新发现病人数减少到一个稳定的低水平，在2002年重复开展LEC时，发现数又是接近前一年的2倍。但与1998年首次开展LEC时发现数相比，减少了50％。新发病人的疾病延迟期平均为34．8月，疾病延迟期在开展LEC前后未显示有缩短或延长的趋势。133例患者中，35例有可见畸残(26．3％)。但新发现病人中2级畸残率从1998年的32．0％下降到2002年重复实施LEC时的12％。结论：作者认为重复实施消除麻风运动促进了当地某些流行病学指标的好转。     

Incidence of leprosy in Agra district

This study presents estimates of incidence of leprosy among the familial contacts (FC) and non-familial contacts (NFC) of leprosy patients in Agra, a district endemic for leprosy. The study covers 42,113 persons followed up for 123,951.2 person years (PY) during which 77 individuals developed leprosy giving an incidence of 6.2/10,000 PY in the total leprosy-free population studied (TLPS). The incidence rate in NFCs was observed to be 4.6/10,000 PY while the FCs had a significantly higher incidence rate of 67.6/10,000 PY (P < 0.001). Incidence rate among the FC of paucibacillary leprosy (PB) patients was 41.0/10,000 PY while the corresponding figure for multibacillary leprosy (MB) contacts was 131.3/10,000 PY (P < 0.05). Applying methods of survival analysis, the incidence rate at the end of 1 year was observed to be 4-0 (per 10,000), increased to 12.0 by 2 years and 18.0 at the end of 3 years in TLPS. The incidence rate was almost similar in both the sexes and was found to increase significantly with age. The observations clearly indicate that leprosy is still endemic in the area and transmission continues.     

1998-2018年陕西省麻风流行特征分析

目的：了解1998-2018年陕西省麻风流行趋势和流行特征,为开展麻风防治工作提供理论依据。方法：通过全国麻风防治管理信息系统（LEPMIS）收集陕西省1998-2018年麻风病历资料,对麻风发现率、患病率和病例基本情况进行描述性分析。结果：1998-2018年陕西省新发现麻风病例共计477例,年平均发现率为0.070/10万,年平均患病率为0.305/10万;病例平均发现年龄为46.71岁;男女比为2.46:1;多菌型（MB）399例,占83.6% ;II级畸残共148例,畸残率为31.03%;新发现病例平均延迟期为62.01个月。结论：陕西省新发麻风病例依然存在畸残比高、延迟期长和高龄化等情况,应进一步加强低流行状态下麻风的监测,减少传播和畸残的发生。     

Progress towards the elimination of leprosy in Nigeria: a review of the role of policy implementation and operational factors

The annual reports of the national leprosy control programme in Nigeria were reviewed to study the trends of the indices of leprosy control from 1992 to 2003 and determine the influence of operational and policy factors. By 2003, both national prevalence and case detection rates had reached below 0.5 per 10,000. Sub-nationally, all except three contiguous States in the Southeast, had prevalence rates below one case per 10,000. Over the 12 years, the prevalence rate decreased by 94-1%, from 7.14 to 0.42 per 10,000, with two periods of rapid decline: 1992-1994 and 1998. Remarkable surges of discharges from multi-drug therapy (MDT) occurred in these same periods. The period 1992-1994 corresponds to the years of introduction of MDT, case reviews, and clean-up of leprosy registers nationwide, while 1998 corresponds to the year the programme adopted the shortened 12-month MDT regime for multibacillary (MB) leprosy. The overall trend of case detection since 1992 was relatively stable, but had three significant periods of initial increase (1992-1994), stability (1994-1999) and recent decline (1999-2003), apparently related to the changing levels of activeness of the national programme. The pattern of new cases detected revealed increasing MB classification and lower disability, but a relatively stable child rate since 1992. The trend of MB proportion was also related to the years of MDT introduction and the adoption of a new leprosy case definition and classification policies. Thus, Nigeria has attained a low leprosy endemic status-mainly through operational and policy influences. The challenges that remain include reducing the relatively high leprosy burden in the Southeastern States and evolving effective case detection interventions that will make an observable impact on the incidence of leprosy.     

重复开展消除麻风运动对当地新发现病人情况的影响

目的:观察贵州省兴义市重复开展消除麻风运动对当地新发现麻风病人的影响.方法:收集1996～2004年新发现麻风病人的有关资料进行比较分析.结果:9年共发现麻风病人166例,平均每年发现18.4例,年均发现率为2.65/10万.1999年首次开展消除麻风运动后3年,新病人中的2级畸残率和延迟期呈明显下降趋势,低于开展前3年的水平.两次开展消除麻风运动时的畸残率和平均延迟期均达较高水平,提示该地区虽两次开展消除麻风运动但麻风流行程度仍处于较高水平.结论:重复实施消除麻风运动可促进某些流行病学指标的好转,应反复多次开展.     

Epidemiological trends of leprosy in an urban leprosy centre of Delhi: a retrospective study of 16 years

This study was done by collecting the retrospective data from 1994 to 2009 of patients attending the urban leprosy centre attached to the department of dermatology, STD & leprosy of PGIMER & Dr. R M L Hospital, New Delhi. The data was analysed according to age, sex, type of leprosy, leprosy reactions, deformities and relapse and compared with the national figures by comparison of proportions after taking the national data per 10,000 population. A total of 3659 patients attended our ULC (Urban Leprosy Centre) among which 2741 were male and 945 females (M:F-3:1). 669 patients (18.2%) were children. The data analysed show a gradual decline in new case detection rate with a marginal rise in 2005 and 2008. Percentage of MB cases was falling consistently till 2005 after which it showed an abrupt rise. The incidence of type 1 reaction varied from 21% in 1994 to 10% in 2009 in PB patients and from 6% in 1994 to 8% in 2009 in MB patients. The trend of type 2 reactions in MB patients showed a slow declining trend. MDT completion rate showed an impressive improvement from 56% in 1994 to 90% in 2009. The number of patients revisiting the ULC with features of relapse also showed a decrease in number. The pattern of visible deformities showed an almost constant trend similar to national figures. Improved MDT completion rate helps in reducing the disease transmission, severity, reactions and disabilities.     

Leprosy situation in the slums of Agra City--epidemiological findings

The present article is the result of a study of the leprosy caseload in Agra City and is based on a house-to-house survey conducted during April-July 2003 in 5 areas. During the survey 198,150 persons were examined, and 287 cases were detected, giving a prevalence rate of 14.5/10,000. A majority of them (92%) were new cases, detected and diagnosed for the first time. The patient load was found to be unevenly distributed with comparatively more number of patients in areas such as Jamuna Kinara, Shah Ganj and Lohamandi. Among the 264 newly detected cases, 14.8% were of MB type. Overall deformity of grade > or = 2 was seen in 2.8% of patients--0.4% in PB and significantly high at 18% in MB leprosy. The observations reveal that leprosy is endemic in slum areas of Agra City.     

Profile of new cases of childhood leprosy in a hospital setting

A hospital-based prospective study was carried out to assess the frequency of occurrence of leprosy in childhood. Out of 800 patients registered for leprosy, 67 (8.4%) were children aged 4-14 years. The male-to-female ratio was 2.5:1. Family history of leprosy was found in 14.9% of cases. The commonest type of leprosy was BT leprosy (35.8%), followed by BB leprosy (25.4%) and BL leprosy (19.4%). More than half of the patients had more than one lesion. Nerve involvement was noted in 70.1% of cases. Slit-skin smear was positive in 46.3% of cases. Out of 67 children, PB and MB regimens were given to 29 and 38 respectively.     

2011-2015年中国麻风病流行病学特征分析

目的 分析2011-2015年中国麻风病流行病学特征,为制定防治策略提供依据.方法 对2011-2015年收集的全国麻风病监测资料进行流行病学和趋势分析.结果 中国麻风病发现率从2011年的0.085/10万下降至2015年的0.049/10万,年均下降12.9％.2011-2015年新发现麻风病例4 775例,其中儿童、女性、流动人口、多菌型和2级残疾病例分别占新发现病例总数的2.2％(106例)、31.4％(1 499例)、10.8％(518例)、84.6％(4 041例)和23.7％(1 134例).2011-2015年全国发现复发病例328例,其中联合化疗后复发病例占复发病例总数的46.6％(153例).患病率从2011年的0.407/10万下降至2015年的0.235/10万,年均下降12.9％.2015年底,全国尚有现症麻风病例3 230例,麻风病患病率＞ 1/10万的县(市、区)为124个.结论 2011-2015年,全国麻风病发现率和患病率持续下降,高流行省份为云南、贵州、四川、广东,中低流行省份的麻风病控制工作也不容忽视.     

麻风病基本消灭阶段的流行病学特征

目的：分析麻风病基本消灭阶段流行病学特征,以指导麻风防治工作。方法：根据山东省历年的麻风病人登记表,分析比较麻风基本消灭阶段与防治初期的流行学特征。结果：麻风基本消灭阶段的流行病学特征与防治初期比较有显著变化;新病例呈散在分布;发病年龄显著升高;少年儿童发病显著减少;多菌型病例所占比升高。复发病例在新发病例中占比升高。结论：麻风病中、高流行区达到基本消灭麻风病后,应根据其流行病学特征采取相应防治对     

Oxidative stress and anti-oxidant status in leprosy patients

Severe oxidative stress has been reported in leprosy patients because of malnutrition and poor immunity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the serum lipid peroxidation products, serum LDH and important free radical scavenging enzymes, i.e. superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase and anti-oxidant glutathione levels and total anti-oxidant status, in different types of leprosy patients. The subjects for this study were normal human volunteers (NHVs, n=14), paucibacillary leprosy patients (PB, n=18), untreated MB patients (MB1, n=18), MB patients under treatment (MB2, n=19), and MB patients released from treatment (RFT) (MB3, n=28). The levels of lipid peroxidation product, malondialdehyde (MDA), and LDH increased significantly (p<0.001) in MB (MB1, MB2, MB3) patients, and both gradually decreased with clinical improvement following MDT. The levels of SOD, catalase and glutathione, and the total anti-oxidant status decreased significantly in MB (MB1, MB2, MB3) patients (p<0.001), in comparison with NHVs. They gradually increased with clinical improvement with MDT. There was no significant variation of these parameters in PB leprosy patients in comparison with healthy volunteers. High free radical activity and low anti-oxidant levels observed in MB (MB1, MB2, MB3) leprosy patients indicate that there is an oxidative stress in MB cases, irrespective of the treatment status and suggest a suitable anti-oxidant therapy to prevent possible tissue injury.     

A study on trend of relapse in leprosy and factors influencing relapse

A retrospective analysis of data pertaining to the rural field operation area of the Central Leprosy Teaching and Research Institute, Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu, was carried out to determine the magnitude of relapse after MDT and its significance with other variables. The study included 3248 leprosy patients who have successfully completed treatment during 1987-2003, of whom 2892 were PB and 356 MB cases. A total of 58 cases of relapse was reported which gives a crude cumulative relapse rate of 1.78% for the 16-year period of follow-up and the rates for PB and MB were 1.9% and 0.84% respectively. With respect to PB cases, 68% of relapses were reported in the first 3 years of RFT. The person-year relapse rate was highly significant with regard to the number of skin lesions (p<0.0002) and nerve involvement (p<0.0002). The person-year relapse rate did not differ significantly between PB and MB leprosy, male and female, and child and adult cases. RFT year cohort relapse rate reveals that the introduction of MB-MDT regimen for PB leprosy had resulted in the reduction of relapses among PB cases after 1998. The relapse rate with reference to the time gap after RFT reveals that relapse declines with passage of time after RFT. The risk of relapse was very low in both PB and MB leprosy which fact emphasizes that proper counselling about signs and symptoms of relapse during RFT is adequate to combat the problem. A majority of relapses occurred in the first three years after RFT. The number of skin lesions and involvement of nerves were the main risk factors for relapse.     

2005-2020年贵阳市麻风流行病学特征分析

目的：了解贵阳市2005-2020年麻风的流行病学特征。方法：通过全国麻风防治管理信息系统（LEPMIS）收集整理贵阳市2005-2020年新、复发麻风患者的详细资料,采用SPSS 18.0软件对麻风病例的一般情况和就诊次数、麻风反应、残疾情况、传染源、发现方式和型别等相关因素进行χ2检验和非条件logistic多因素分析。结果：贵阳市2005-2020年共发现新、复发麻风169例,年均发现率0.260/105,总体呈下降趋势,复发病例7例,其中3例是联合化疗后复发（42.86%）,4例为DDS单疗后复发（57.14%）。169例患者平均年龄(41.88±16.75)岁,儿童病例（14岁及以下）6例,占新发病例的3.55%,MB∶PB=2.13∶1,平均2级残疾比为32.54%,发现方式以皮肤科就诊为主,占31.36%。影响畸残的主要因素为麻风患者的文化程度高低、不同传染源、不同的发现方式和麻风型别。结论：贵阳市麻风流行状态总体呈下降趋势,但2级残疾发病率高并且还有儿童病例（14岁及以下）出现,麻风疫情依然严峻。