Leprosy: 5-year retrospective study at Colombo North Teaching Hospital, Ragama

Leprosy is a well-known but poorly understood disease. In 1991, the World Health Assembly (WHA) passed a resolution to eliminate leprosy as a public health problem by the year 2000. In spite of the introduction of multidrug treatment (MDT) by the WHO, it still remains a health problem in Sri Lanka. This 5-year retrospective study was undertaken at Dermatology Clinic, Colombo North Teaching Hospital, Ragama to analyse leprosy patients from January 2004 to December 2008 (a total of 499 patients).

The incidences of leprosy from years 2004 - 2008 were 95, 94, 116, 85, and 109 respectively, indicating similar figures over the past 5 years. The percentage of incidence of reactions of leprosy is 12.82%.

In the paucibacillary (PB) treatment group, type 1 reaction was managed with prednisolone alone, whereas in the mixed type, 76% required additional drugs.

The occurrence of disabilities stood at a rate of 20.9%, which included multiple disabilities in some of the patients.

Deformities occurred mostly in multibacillary (MB) treatment group, the commonest being the claw hand in both treatment groups.

It is important to emphasize that these patients need not only drugs but also a multidisciplinary comprehensive approach to improve their quality of life.