PMID- 12390192
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20030103
LR  - 20190722
IS  - 0011-9059 (Print)
IS  - 0011-9059 (Linking)
VI  - 41
IP  - 10
DP  - 2002 Oct
TI  - Leprosy in a high-prevalence Egyptian village: epidemiology and risk factors.
PG  - 681-6
AB  - BACKGROUND: The epidemiology of leprosy in rural Egypt is unknown. This 
      prospective household survey was conducted in a high-prevalence Egyptian village 
      in order to explore the epidemiologic characteristics of the disease and to 
      determine the possible socioeconomic and HLA genotype risk factors. METHODS: The 
      subjects of the study were the residents of Kafr-Tambul village in the Dakahlia 
      governorate, Egypt. There were 10,503 inhabitants of the village, of whom 9643 
      (91.8%) had a complete visual skin examination, and suspected leprosy patients 
      were subjected to histopathological examination and slit skin smears. Each 
      household was interviewed to record personal data on family members, family size, 
      education, occupation, crowding index at sleep, social score and source of water 
      supply. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II genotypes were analyzed in all 
      leprosy patients and in a number of both household (N = 124) and non-household (N 
      = 30) contacts. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of clinical leprosy in the 
      village studied was 24.9/10,000 (95%CI = 16.3-37.6). Individuals above the age of 
      40 years were 4 times more likely to develop leprosy (OR = 4, P= 0.01). The 
      degree of education, crowding index at sleep, social score and source of water 
      supply were found to be unlikely to increase the risk of leprosy (P > 0.05). The 
      frequencies of HLA-DR2 and -DQ1 were significantly associated with leprosy (OR = 
      3.33 and 5.4; CI = 0.95-12.07 and 1.08-30.19, respectively, all P < 0.05). 
      CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides the first picture of the epidemiology of leprosy 
      in a high-prevalence village in rural Egypt. Leprosy detection campaigns should 
      be initiated and directed towards high-prevalence villages. Provision of leprosy 
      control activities in rural health units is necessary in order to detect new 
      cases. The risk for leprosy is associated with HLA-DR2 and -DQ1 markers, and 
      these markers appear to increase personal susceptibility to leprosy in this 
      village.
FAU - Hegazy, Aly A
AU  - Hegazy AA
AD  - Department of Dermatology, Mansoura Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura, Egypt. 
      alyhegazy_200@yahoo.com
FAU - Abdel-Hamid, Ibrahim A
AU  - Abdel-Hamid IA
FAU - Ahmed, El-Shahat F
AU  - Ahmed el-SF
FAU - Hammad, Sabry M
AU  - Hammad SM
FAU - Hawas, Samia A
AU  - Hawas SA
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - England
TA  - Int J Dermatol
JT  - International journal of dermatology
JID - 0243704
RN  - 0 (HLA Antigens)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - Age Factors
MH  - Egypt/epidemiology
MH  - Female
MH  - Genetic Predisposition to Disease/genetics
MH  - Genotype
MH  - HLA Antigens/genetics
MH  - Health Surveys
MH  - Humans
MH  - Leprosy/*epidemiology/etiology/*genetics
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Prevalence
MH  - Prospective Studies
MH  - Risk Factors
MH  - Rural Population/*statistics & numerical data
MH  - Socioeconomic Factors
EDAT- 2002/10/23 04:00
MHDA- 2003/01/07 04:00
CRDT- 2002/10/23 04:00
PHST- 2002/10/23 04:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2003/01/07 04:00 [medline]
PHST- 2002/10/23 04:00 [entrez]
AID - 1602 [pii]
AID - 10.1046/j.1365-4362.2002.01602.x [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Int J Dermatol. 2002 Oct;41(10):681-6. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-4362.2002.01602.x.