Trends of case detection and other indicators of leprosy in China during 1985-2002.
OBJECTIVE
To analyze the trends of case detection and other indicators of leprosy in China during 1985-2002.


METHODS
Data reported by each province were collected by China National Leprosy Database in Nanjing P.R. China. All data about registered cases were put into computer for analysis.


RESULTS
From 1985 to 2002, a total of 49,477 new leprosy cases had been detected. Among them, 69.5% were multibacillary cases and 25.4% had grade 2 disability. The child cases aged below 15 years accounted for 3.74% of total cases. Totally, 5824 cases and 303 cases relapsed after dapsone (DDS) mono-therapy and multidrug therapy (MDT), respectively. Case detection showed a marked reduction from 0.47/100,000 in 1985 to 0.18/100,000 in 1993 although there were several spurts due to operational factors. From 1994, case detection showed no significant decline. The grade 2 disability among new patients decreased from 31.4% in 1985 to 23.4% in 2002. The child case detection rate among new cases fluctuated between 2.70%-3.56% from 1999 to 2002. The incidence of relapse declined after the introduction of DDS mono-therapy. However, it increased after the introduction of MDT.


CONCLUSIONS
China experiences in leprosy control show that it will take a long time with continuing present leprosy control activities to bring down the case detection and other indicators to a very low level even after reaching the elimination goal of leprosy.
Shen
Jian-ping
JP
Institute of Dermatology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, National Center for STD and Leprosy Control, Nanjing. shenjp1@jlonline.com
Gupte
M D
MD
Jiang
Cheng
C
Manickam
P
P
Yu
Mei-wen
MW
Li
Wen-zhong
WZ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000639:trends; D003622:Dapsone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007917:Leprostatic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007918:Leprosy / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D012008:Recurrence
D007917:Leprostatic Agents; D003622:Dapsone