Leprosy among school children in Trivandrum city

Abstract

School surveys followed by contact surveys were done in an urban area to studv the epidemiology of childhood leprosy. In a survey of 10, 112 school children in the urban leprosy zone under the Trivandrum Medical College Hospital. leprosy was detected in 55 (a prevalence of 5 per 1000 school children) of these 5 (9%) had multibacillary leprosy. Prevalence rate was more in boys than in girls (M:F ratio 1.6:1). More cases were seen in children above 10 years and this preponderance was more in boys. The prevalence of leprosy was more in Government schools than that in private schools. The majority of children had only single lesions which were on exposed parts of the body. Examination of intrafamilial contacts of cases and matched controls revealed leprosy in 20 houses (47%) among cases, and in 3 families (5%) among controls. Majority of younger children (81%) below 10 years of age had source case in the family itself. The father was the most common (58%) primary source of infection. Majority of index cases (73%) were multibacillary. This study reaffirms the value of school surveys and contact tracing in the detection of leprosy in urban areas.