Epidemiological indicators and clinical profile of leprosy cases in Dhaka

Objective to evaluate epidemiological indicators and clinical profile of leprosy patients in dhaka city. methods in this cross-sectional observational study 722 new leprosy patients registered in six different clinics of the leprosy mission international - bangladesh,dhaka program over two and half years (january 2011 to june 2013) were included. demographic details and clinical characteristics during diagnosis were recorded. results out of 722 patients,390 (54%) were males and 332 (46%) were females. proportion of cases under 15 year age was 8.7%. borderline tuberculoid was the most common form of the disease (81.0%) followed by tuberculoid (9.3%),lepromatous (4.3%),borderline lepromatous (3.5%),borderline (1.8%) and pure neural (0.1%). proportion of multibacillary leprosy was 22.4%. most of the patients had duration of symptoms from 6 months to 1 year (53.0%). 12% of patients had history of contact with leprosy patients. type 1 reaction was more prevalent than type 2 (7.6% and 2.9%,respectively). proportion of cases with grade 2 disability was 5.9%. most common presentation was with hypopigmented macule with obvious margin,marked anesthesia and mild infiltration. ulnar nerve was the most common nerve to be involved (15.8%). conclusion leprosy cases are being frequently diagnosed in dhaka city. epidemiological indicators reflect that there may be ongoing disease transmission and relative delay in diagnosis despite a strong surveillance program.