Article Text
Abstract
Background Children are believed to be the most vulnerable group to leprosy. Childhood leprosy reflects disease transmission in the community as well as the efficiency of ongoing disease control programmes. In Cuba, leprosy is not a national health problem; however, new childhood leprosy cases are diagnosed every year.
Objective We summarise the experience of Cuba on childhood leprosy control over the past two decades.
Results Between 2000 and 2017, a total of 103 children in Cuba have been diagnosed with leprosy, showing that active transmission of cases remains in 13 of 15 provinces of Cuba. The majority of cases were multibacillary (66%), and 34% were paucibacillary cases. Clinically 60% of children have more than five lesions all over their body. Voluntary reporting was the principal method of case detection. The presence of familial and extrafamilial contact with leprosy cases may be a cause of concern, as it implies continuing transmission of the disease. Only four children had disabilities (one with grade 2 disabilities and three with grade 1 disabilities). A set of national investigations have been developed to intervene in a timely manner. Intervention strategies that combine clinical surveillance and laboratory test could be an option for early detection of childhood leprosy.
Conclusions Early detection of cases due to effective health education campaigns, regular and complete treatment with MDT, and contact tracing may be important in reducing the burden of leprosy in the community.
- dermatology
- tropical infectious disease
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Footnotes
Contributors JLR-F made substantial contributions to the conception and design of the work, carried out the analysis and interpretation of data, drafting the work, and made final approval of the version to be published. RRC carried out the acquisition, analysis and interpretation of data for the work, made critical revision for important intellectual content, and made final approval of the version to be published. LdlCHG carried out the acquisition, analysis and interpretation of data for the work, made critical revision for important intellectual content, and made final approval of the version to be published. FP carried out the revision of the manuscript critically for important intellectual content, made final approval of the version to be published, and ensured that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of the work were appropriately investigated and resolved.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent for publication Not required.
Provenance and peer review Commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Data availability statement All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information.