A Cross-Sectional Study of the Success of the Leprosy Elimination Strategy before and after a 10-Year Eradication Period in a Referral Hospital in Tamil Nadu, India | Chapter 5 | Medical Research and Its Applications Vol. 6

Objective: To assess the successes of the leprosy elimination strategy before 2000 to 2005 and after the eradication period from 2006 to 2010 in a referral hospital in the Tamil Nadu district, India.

Background: The elimination strategy is based on detecting and treating all leprosy cases with Multi Drug Therapy (MDT) and thereby reducing the disease burden to a very low level. The key is to ensure that all new cases continue to have access to MDT services. A significant proportion of patients in Kerala and a few other states did not get MDT in the nearest health facility, and there was no patient counselling in most states.

Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on all registered new cases of leprosy over a ten-year period at the referral Sacred Heart Leprosy Hospital in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu.

Results: During the survey, a total number of 5,794 new leprosy cases were registered from 2000 to 2010 between before and after the eradication period at a referral leprosy hospital. Comparative analysis of 5 years before and after the eradication period surveys show that the total number of multibacillary and paucibacillary cases registered before eradication was 4177and after eradication it was reduced to 1617, in that multibacillary cases reduced from 2724 to 1150 after eradication and paucibacillary cases reduced from 1453 to 467 cases. According to this analysis, it is concluded that the total number of leprosy cases reported in referral hospitals per day before eradication was 2.28 and after eradication, it was reduced to 0.88 cases per day. It is hoped that active surveillance screening will ensue along the districts so that cases of leprosy can be detected before people suffer the long-term consequences of the disease. So earlier treatment and awareness for leprosy is a better way to decrease the disease.

Conclusions: In certain parts of Tamil Nadu, south India, leprosy was out of control and remained a significant public health concern. Though there is still a chance of leprosy cases in endemic areas following the eradication period, leprosy elimination is clearly in sight. Thus, community-based surveillance and leprosy awareness days may contribute to better leprosy early identification, treatment, case holding, and prevention of impairments. Increasing awareness programs in endemic districts is a very effective method to decrease leprosy.

 

Author(s)details:-

 

Arun Sundaramoorthy
Department of Biomedical Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli-620 024, Tamil Nadu, India and School of Biomedical Sciences, Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University), Pillaiyarkuppan, Puducherry-607402, India.

 

Kavitha Hemachandran
Department of Zoology, Sri Moogambigai College of Arts and Science for Women, Palacode-636 808, Tamil Nadu, India.

 

Valsala Gopalakrishnan Abilash
Division of Bio Molecules and Genetics, School of Bio Science and Technology, VIT University, Vellore-632 014, Tamil Nadu, India.

 

Arunachalam Subramanian
Sacred Heart Leprosy Hospital, Sakkottai-612 401, Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, India.

 

Narkunaraja Shanmugam
Department of Biomedical Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli-620 024, Tamil Nadu, India.

 

Please See the book here :- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/mria/v6/17273D

Serum Zinc Level Estimation- Comparision between Normal Control and in Leprosy Patients: Clinical Presentations | Chapter 1 | New Frontiers in Medicine and Medical Research Vol. 1

 Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. The colder parts of the body, such as the skin and peripheral nerves, are predominantly affected. Leprosy affects the body's biochemical and immunological systems, as well as trace metals such as zinc, copper, and magnesium. After iron, zinc is the second most prevalent trace metal in the body. The goal of this study was to investigate into the amount of serum zinc in leprosy patients and to correlate with clinical manifestations wherever possible. The study comprised 63 persons who had recently been diagnosed with leprosy. After that, the cases were split into clinical subgroups and compared to the controls. Serum zinc levels were evaluated using serum samples collected from venous blood. The majority of patients (26.9%) had Intermediate Leprosy, with Histoid Leprosy being the minority (1.58%). The lowest serum zinc levels were found in pure tuberculoid and indeterminate leprosy patients, whereas the highest were found in pure lepromatous and Erythema nodosum leprosum patients, demonstrating that leprosy patients with higher bacterial burdens had lower serum zinc levels. There may be a link between serum zinc levels and bacillary load, based on this.

Author (s) Details

Pramila Jain
Department of Pathology Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal M.P 462001, India.

Vivek Khare
Department of Pathology Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal M.P 462001, India

Ashish Koshti
Department of Pathology Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal M.P 462001, India.

Reeni Malik
Department of Pathology Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal M.P 462001, India.

Bhawna Bhimte
Department of Medical Biochemistry Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal MP 462001, India.

View Book :- https://stm.bookpi.org/NFMMR-V1/article/view/2780

Investigating the Effectiveness of Traditional Healers in Program to Control Leprosy in Nagan Raya District in Aceh | Chapter 1 | Innovations in Medicine and Medical Research Vol. 3

Aceh Province had the highest rate of leprosy in Indonesia; in 2014, 436 new Multibacillary cases were reported. Nagan Raya was the District in Aceh with the highest number of cases; new cases in 2015 comprised 26 with Paucibacillary (PB) and 21 with Multibacillary (MB) with a total of 4.26% with Grade II disability. The phenomena of handling and treatment by the people in Nagan Raya involve treatment by traditional healers, “Tabib”, to treat the leprosy, with treatments known as Peundang locally. The purpose of this study was to find out and to take steps to improve the effectiveness of the Tabib in controlling leprosy in Nagan Raya. The main object of this study, which used a quasiexperimental design, was to find out and to improve the treatment of leprosy patients by the Tabib who treat them there. Data was gathered using a questionnaire with an interview and the intervention was to provide training and a pocket book about leprosy and how to detect, control, and manage it there and the role that the Tabib can play in controlling leprosy in the future. The results of the study showed that there was a significant difference in knowledge about leprosy between the EG (Experimental Group) Tabib after they got the training including the pocket book and the Tabib in the Control Group (CG); i.e., that did not get any training nor the pocket book. Furthermore, after the training, there was also a significant difference in the attitude towards leprosy between the EG and the CG of Tabib. There was also a significant difference in the future role of the Tabibs to control the spread of leprosy between the EG and the CG. Based on these results, it is hoped that the District Health Department can implement a partnership model with the Tabib in Nagan Raya (and elsewhere) to use the pocket book with training to implement a program to control the spread of leprosy and also to always support the Tabib to improve their role in controlling and eliminating leprosy amongst the village people.

Author(s) Details

Said Usman Public Health
Department, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh 23245, Indonesia.

Teuku Alamsyah
Health Polytechnic Aceh, Banda Aceh Indonesia 405001, Indonesia

View Book :- http://bp.bookpi.org/index.php/bpi/catalog/book/178