Review of Ten-yrs Leprosy Cases in Azerbaijan, Northwest of Iran

Leprosy is a rare but important infectious disease caused bymycobacterium leprae. word health organization suggested astrategy to reduce the prevalence of the disease to less thanone per 10000 people. it seems that the leprosy is now in itselimination stage because during a period of ten years onlyfew new cases were found in iran. we studied 157 new leprosycases that were referred to and registered in bababaghicenter, azerbaijan, northwest of iran. a total of 157 newcases, 107 (68%) males and 50 (32%) females were born inazerbaijan with the peak age of the disease at their fourthdecade. the most common form of the disease, especially inmale patients, was lepromatous leprosy. skin problems, especiallyeyebrow hair loss, constituted the most frequent sign ofthe disease. the most involved nerve was ulnar nerve. leprosyis a chronic infectious disease that is associated with seriousmorbidity if left untreated. although, leprosy is a rare diseasein iran it is important for the physicians to be aware whenthey visit a patient with chronic dermatitis with peripheralnerve involvement