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Epidemiology of leprosy on five isolated islands in the Flores Sea, Indonesia
Author(s) -
Bakker Mirjam I.,
Hatta Mochammad,
Kwenang Agnes,
Klatser Paul R.,
Oskam Linda
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-3156.2002.00931.x
Subject(s) - leprosy , epidemiology , mycobacterium leprae , medicine , transmission (telecommunications) , population , demography , dermatology , environmental health , sociology , electrical engineering , engineering
Summary We conducted a population‐based survey on five small islands in South Sulawesi Province (Indonesia) to collect baseline data previous to a chemoprophylactic intervention study aiming at interrupting the transmission of Mycobacterium leprae . Here we describe the present leprosy epidemiology on these geographically isolated islands. Of the 4774 inhabitants living in the study area 4140 were screened for leprosy (coverage: 87%). We identified 96 leprosy patients (85 new and 11 old patients), representing a new case detection rate (CDR) of 205/10 000 and a prevalence rate of 195/10 000. CDRs were similar for males and females. Male patients were more often classified as multibacillary (MB) than women. Of the new patients, 33 (39%) were classified as MB, 16 (19%) as paucibacillary (PB) 2–5 lesions and 36 (42%) as PB single lesion. In this area of high leprosy endemicity leprosy patients were extensively clustered, i.e. not equally distributed among the islands and within the islands among the houses.