Study of 622 New Leprosy Patients Detected Over a Period of Twelve Years (1994-2005) in Tanta Univer
Journal of Pan-Arab League of Dermatologists
Vol. 18, No. 2, June 2007 Page 59- 73
Study of 622 New Leprosy Patients Detected Over a Period of Twelve Years (1994-2005) in Tanta University Hospital, Gharbia, Egypt
Wafaa M Ramadan, Arwa M Hassan and Rania A El-Tatawy
Department of Dermatology & Venereology, Tanta University Hospital
Abstract
Background: Although Egypt has achieved the WHO goal in elimination of leprosy as early as 1994 at the national level, in 2005 it was considered as one of the only 3 countries still had prevalence higher than 1 per 10000 population at subnational level {Egypt, Somalia and Sudan}. Gharbia is an Egyptian Governorate in
the center of Delta which is known to horbour many leprosy patients. Its population is 3,790,670. Tanta the place of the present study is the capital of Gharbia in which epidemiology of leprosy is regularly studied since 1973.
Objective: The aim of this work was to study the newly detected leprosy patients in Tanta university hospital over the past 12 years from1994 to 2005 to throw a new light on the current real epidemiological status of leprosy in this part of Egypt.
Results: Patients involoved in this study were 622 leprosy patients. The number of patients from inside Gharbia was always more than the number of those from outside Gharbia. Among leprosy patients inside Gharbia, the percentage of patients from rural area (66.72) was higher than that of patients from urban area (33.28). This means that third of the registered patients are from urban side. The results of the present study indicated that adults are more frequently affected than children. There is a shift in new case detection towards older age groups, with a peak at the age group of 40-50 years. The percentage of children among the newly detected cases in the present study was (8.04%). It was noticed that female percentage is increasing over the last 12 years as female patients represent 55.79% of all studied patients. This means that the gender imbalance has decreased or even inverted. About half the patients (49.52%) were of multibacillary type, however the fraction of new cases represented by multibacillary leprosy, is decreasing and not increasing compared to the results of previous studies conducted in the same area. The number of the yearly new detected leprosy patients was going up and down over the past 12 years without significant difference. The number of the new leprosy patients from Gharbia Governorate detected in Tanta university hospital (312) was much more than double that registered by Ministry of Health and Population, leprosy control department (148) in the same governorate over the same period.
Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that leprosy in Egypt is not on decline. This emphasizes that leprosy is still a public health problem which needs accurate data and critical appraisal of these data on both national and subnational levels. All efforts will not be really effective in the long run, unless the epidemiology of leprosy is better understood. Sustained link and cooperation between all those who are concerned with leprosy and coordination of their efforts is a must to achieve maximum results and to know the actual magnitude of this problem in Egypt and how to solve it on all levels.
Journal of Pan-Arab League of Dermatologists
Vol. 18, No. 2, June 2007 Page 59- 73
Study of 622 New Leprosy Patients Detected Over a Period of Twelve Years (1994-2005) in Tanta University Hospital, Gharbia, Egypt
Wafaa M Ramadan, Arwa M Hassan and Rania A El-Tatawy
Department of Dermatology & Venereology, Tanta University Hospital
Abstract
Background: Although Egypt has achieved the WHO goal in elimination of leprosy as early as 1994 at the national level, in 2005 it was considered as one of the only 3 countries still had prevalence higher than 1 per 10000 population at subnational level {Egypt, Somalia and Sudan}. Gharbia is an Egyptian Governorate in
the center of Delta which is known to horbour many leprosy patients. Its population is 3,790,670. Tanta the place of the present study is the capital of Gharbia in which epidemiology of leprosy is regularly studied since 1973.
Objective: The aim of this work was to study the newly detected leprosy patients in Tanta university hospital over the past 12 years from1994 to 2005 to throw a new light on the current real epidemiological status of leprosy in this part of Egypt.
Results: Patients involoved in this study were 622 leprosy patients. The number of patients from inside Gharbia was always more than the number of those from outside Gharbia. Among leprosy patients inside Gharbia, the percentage of patients from rural area (66.72) was higher than that of patients from urban area (33.28). This means that third of the registered patients are from urban side. The results of the present study indicated that adults are more frequently affected than children. There is a shift in new case detection towards older age groups, with a peak at the age group of 40-50 years. The percentage of children among the newly detected cases in the present study was (8.04%). It was noticed that female percentage is increasing over the last 12 years as female patients represent 55.79% of all studied patients. This means that the gender imbalance has decreased or even inverted. About half the patients (49.52%) were of multibacillary type, however the fraction of new cases represented by multibacillary leprosy, is decreasing and not increasing compared to the results of previous studies conducted in the same area. The number of the yearly new detected leprosy patients was going up and down over the past 12 years without significant difference. The number of the new leprosy patients from Gharbia Governorate detected in Tanta university hospital (312) was much more than double that registered by Ministry of Health and Population, leprosy control department (148) in the same governorate over the same period.
Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that leprosy in Egypt is not on decline. This emphasizes that leprosy is still a public health problem which needs accurate data and critical appraisal of these data on both national and subnational levels. All efforts will not be really effective in the long run, unless the epidemiology of leprosy is better understood. Sustained link and cooperation between all those who are concerned with leprosy and coordination of their efforts is a must to achieve maximum results and to know the actual magnitude of this problem in Egypt and how to solve it on all levels.