title: Childhood leprosy: lest we forget.
abstract: Leprosy remains an important public health and social issue in South Asia, particularly in India. Its presence in childhood is an immense social burden because of the associated disabilities and widely prevalent misconceptions regarding communicability and treatment potential. The prevalence of leprosy among children suggests a possible gap in the national programmes aimed at leprosy elimination. This article reports a 10-year retrospective study of childhood leprosy in a tertiary care hospital setting (2000-2009) along with an analysis of selected socio-epidemiologic correlates. We stress the importance of early detection and the application of appropriate prophylactic measures in susceptible children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, JN Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Durgabadi Marris Road, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh 202002, India. sandeepsemail@rediffmail.com
authors.forename: Sandeep
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sachdeva
authors.forename: Syed Suhail
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Amin
authors.forename: Zulfia
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Pranav Kumar
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Saraansh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bansal
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D018890:Chemoprevention; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D003622:Dapsone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007917:Leprostatic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007918:Leprosy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012293:Rifampin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D007917:Leprostatic Agents; D003622:Dapsone; D012293:Rifampin