Presence of an index case in households of newly registered leprosy patients: experience from a leprosy referral centre in South India

摘要

The global leprosy burden in terms of new case detection does not seemto show a declining trend. India continues to be one of the major contributors to theleprosy burden. It is well known that the presence of an index case is a risk factor forleprosy among household contacts. The Blue Peter Health and Research centre(BPHRC), a leprosy referral centre in South India, observed the presence of an indexcase in 27·6% of leprosy patients newly diagnosed during 2009–2013. A majority ofthe index cases were either parents or siblings. Early case detection is recommendedin global and national strategies, but active contact screening is not in the purview ofintegrated leprosy services in India. Active contact screening may be considered asone of the major activities to further reduce the leprosy burden.