Leprosy cases landing in tertiary care worry experts

Dermatologists are worried at a rising number of leprosy cases missing diagnosis in field work and showing up in tertiary hospitals. “We have noticed we have resurgence,” said Prof Adebola Ogunbiyi, president of the National Association of Dermatologists, NAD. “We have a lot of atypical cases – they don’t look like leprosy to those who […]

Dermatologists are worried at a rising number of leprosy cases missing diagnosis in field work and showing up in tertiary hospitals.
“We have noticed we have resurgence,” said Prof Adebola Ogunbiyi, president of the National Association of Dermatologists, NAD.
“We have a lot of atypical cases – they don’t look like leprosy to those who are trained in the field, and it is until they come to the hospital that we identify them.”
She spoke as NAD held its 10th scientific conference in Abuja, which also hosted the first-ever scientific meeting of the continent-wide Africa Society for Dermatology and Veneorology.
The resurgence comes from hospital records and is more common among adults than children, Ogunbiyi said, but is not an explosion of numbers.
“It is not like we have a million cases. But if I see one case of lepromatous leprosy (that is infective, with coughing), then it is worrisome,” she explained.
“It is not in terms of huge numbers but the fact that we are still seeing that level of patients with the cases, that’s what’s worrisome.”