Leprosy in the twenty-first century: a microbiological, clinical, and epidemiological study in northwestern Spain
- PDF / 223,180 Bytes
- 5 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 78 Downloads / 194 Views
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Leprosy in the twenty-first century: a microbiological, clinical, and epidemiological study in northwestern Spain Gema Barbeito-Castiñeiras 1 & Beatriz Mejuto 2 & Amparo Coira Nieto 1 & María Jesús Domínguez Santalla 3 & Antonio Aguilera Guirao 1 & María Luisa Pérez del Molino 1 Received: 17 January 2020 / Accepted: 15 April 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Leprosy, or Hansen’s disease, is a chronic granulomatous disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae and the recently discovered Mycobacterium lepromatosis. In Spain and other countries, where leprosy has been eliminated, an increasing number of imported cases have been documented, especially from South Africa and South America. The diagnosis of leprosy is mainly clinical, based on the signs established by the World Health Organization (WHO), although laboratory tools can be useful for diagnostic confirmation. The treatment is based on the administration of multi-drug therapy, and involves the multidisciplinary work of experts in ophthalmology, orthopedics, and physiotherapy. We studied the confirmed cases by microbiological and /or histopathological diagnosis in the health area of Santiago de Compostela (456,874 inhabitants in Galicia, in the Northwest of Spain), analyzing their clinical, microbiological, and epidemiological characteristics (2006–2015). In our study, we describe five cases of leprosy, four of them imported and one that, in the absence of more data, is native. Although we have only documented five cases during the 10 years of the study, our experience highlights the importance of considering the country of origin, travel history, and contacts in patients or staff working with leprosy patients. Despite the decrease of leprosy in our environment, it is important to enhance suspicion of the disease among health personnel, especially in those patients from countries where leprosy is endemic and those in close contact with the diagnosed patients. Keywords Leprosy . Mycobacterium leprae . Hansen disease . Smear test
Mycobacterial infections are a major public health problem worldwide. They are etiologically classified into three groups: tuberculosis, leprosy, and those caused by non-tuberculous mycobacteria. Leprosy, or Hansen’s disease (HD), is a chronic granulomatous disease caused by the slow growing bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and the recently discovered species
Mycobacterium lepromatosis [1]. The average incubation period of the disease is 5 years; in some cases, the symptoms may appear within the first year, but in some patients can occur up to 20 years after exposure to the bacteria, or even more. If left untreated, leprosy can cause progressive and permanent lesions to the skin, nerves, extremities, and eyes [2]; if treated in the earlier stages, disability can be avoided.
* Gema Barbeito-Castiñeiras [email protected] Beatriz Mejuto [email protected] Amparo Coira Nieto [email protected] María Jesús Domínguez Santalla Maria.Jesus.Dominguez.
Data Loading...
