Characterization of New Leprosy Cases inNortheast of Iran within the Last 15 Years

Leprosy is a neglected disease. the insidious onset of leprosyresults in its late diagnosis and therefore the spread of thedisease. characterization of leprosy in areas with higher riskand collection of enough information about these spots to adoptmore effective controlling measures are of great importance.in the present study, data for every patient who either referredto the health care center for leprosy or had had similar leproussymptoms between 2002 and 2016 were collected. forty-twonew cases of leprosy were identified with 28 of them beingiranian and 14 from afghanistan. all patients were older than15. 26.2% of the patients were women and 73.8% were men.according to world health organization (who) protocol,36 patients (85.7%) were diagnosed to have been affected by themulti bacillary form; and among those patients, 61.9%, 19.05%,and 19.05% suffered from grade 1, 0, and 2 of the disease,respectively. there was a significant relationship betweendisability grading and sex (p=0.032), with grade 1 disabilityhappening more often in men. another significant relationshipwas also observed between multi bacillary form and nationality(p=0.011) indicating that multi bacillary form is more commonamong iranians. with 0.02 leprosy cases in 10000 people, iranis at elimination phase of the disease; however, identification ofnew cases in our region demands constant controlling programsand establishment of strict policies. fortunately, the few numbers of patients diagnosed with leprosy in northeast of iran shows successful implementation of such policies under the scrutiny of the public health authorities.