title: Leprosy--an imported disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Leprosy remains a public health concern in Malaysia and globally. We aim to review the characteristics of leprosy patients in a tertiary institution in urban Malaysia.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a case series of 27 leprosy patients who presented between 2008 and 2013.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The majority of our patients consisted of male (74.1%), Malaysian (63.0%), blue collar workers (51.9%) and married (59.3%) patients; 48.1% had lepromatous leprosy. All except one of the patients presented with skin lesions, 25.9% had nerve involvement and 33.3% developed lepra reactions. Forty-four point four percent (44.4%) of the cases seen initially in the primary care setup were misdiagnosed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Doctors need to have a high index of suspicion for leprosy when patients present with suggestive skin, nerve or musculoskeletal lesions. Immigrants accounted for 37% of cases and these patients may become a reservoir of infection, thus accounting for the rise in incidence. An increasing trend in multibacillary cases may be attributed to the spread from migrants from countries with a high burden of leprosy.
authors.forename: Zhenli
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kwan
authors.forename: Jayalakshmi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pailoor
authors.forename: Leng Leng
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Suganthy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.forename: Su-Ming
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Rokiah
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ismail
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001208:Asia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007918:Leprosy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014195:Travel; D055815:Young Adult