Leprosy Mailing List, June 15th, 2008
Ref.: English summay of:
"Leprosy in children in Pando Department, Bolivia"
From: Eggens H., Amsterdam, The
Netherlands
Dear
Salvatore,
I have translated the
summary of Dr Villarreal's article on child leprosy in Pando Dept., Bolivia.
Please find it below. A
short comment of mine will follow with the next message. Greetings.
Henk
Henk Eggens, MD MPH
Senior adviser public health
Royal Tropical Institute
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Epidemiological leprosy situation in children under 15
years of age in Pando Department, Bolivia
Villarreal,M.E*.;
Bustillos,J**.; Rios, L***.; Iquize,C***.; Franco,M.C***.; Isita,D.***
(*
Dermatologist COINFA,** Director COINFA,*** Personal SEDES Pando.)
Summary:
Leprosy in
children is an infrequent disease; its diagnosis requires good
clinical skills. It is
difficult to diagnose in children under 14 years of age, because its
appearance is limited to maculae that can be overlooked or can be
confounded with another disease.
Objective:
The objective
of this study was to analyse the epidemiological leprosy situation in
children under 15 years in Pando Department. A retrospective descriptive
study was used as study design, with clinical histories as basis for
information. Fifty-eight
clinical histories were studied; age, sex, initial skin lesion,
patient delay and clinical appearance were analysed.
Results:
In the period
of March 2007-February 2008, 202 new leprosy cases were registered in
Pando Department. Fifty-eight
of them were children under 15 years of age, 20 boys and 38 girls. Eighty-four percent presented
maculae, most frequently in the face (33%). The most common clinical
presentation was indeterminate (54%). Eighteen percent had Grade
One disability and in 34 % a skin smear was taken. Clinical appearance and
epidemiology were the pillars of diagnosis.
Conclusions:
Leprosy is
among the re-emerging diseases in our country and worldwide. Child leprosy is not limited
to clinical disease characteristics, but is linked to epidemiology,
public health and health education.
Child leprosy is a direct indicator of the magnitude of disease
transmission and of the effectiveness of control programme activities,
in the sense that it reflects an important active transmission and a
low coverage of activities of case detection and early treatment.
