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.
Vara
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Assistant Professor, Department of Skin & VD, Government Medical College, Surat, Gujarat.
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007918:Leprosy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D009166:Mycobacterium leprae; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies