Leprosy epidemiological trends and diagnosis delay in three districts of Tanzania: A baseline study

Nelly Mwageni; Deusdedit Kamara; Riziki Kisonga; Blasdus Njako; Phellister Nyakato; Abdallah Pegwa; Shigela Marco; William Mayunga; Reuben Hebron; Saida Kidula; John E. Masenga; Thomas Hambridge; Anne Schoenmakers; Robin van Wijk; Liesbeth Mieras; Christa Kasang; Jan Hendrik Richardus; Stephen E. Mshana

doi:10.47276/lr.93.3.209

Leprosy epidemiological trends and diagnosis delay in three districts of Tanzania: A baseline study

Nelly Mwageni^*, Deusdedit Kamara, Riziki Kisonga, Blasdus Njako, Phellister Nyakato, Abdallah Pegwa, Shigela Marco, William Mayunga, Reuben Hebron, Saida Kidula, John E. Masenga, Thomas Hambridge, Anne Schoenmakers, Robin van Wijk, Liesbeth Mieras, Christa Kasang, Jan Hendrik Richardus, Stephen E. Mshana

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Objectives Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is a slowly progressive and chronic infectious neglected tropical disease (NTD) caused by Mycobacterium leprae. This study was performed to assess the epidemiological trend of leprosy in the past five years in the three study districts in Tanzania in which a leprosy prevention intervention study (PEP4LEP) is implemented, and to determine the case detection delay at baseline. Methods Secondary data from the leprosy registry of the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Program of Tanzania from 2015 to 2019 were used to describe the epidemiological trends of leprosy for the three study districts: Morogoro, Mvomero, and Lindi district council. A cross-sectional study was also conducted to assess the delay in leprosy diagnosis at baseline. The chi-square test was used to calculate statistical significance. Results Between 2015 and 2019, 657 new leprosy cases were detected in three districts. Of those cases, 247 (37.6%) were female patients, 5 (0.8%) had a grade 2 disability (G2D) and 516 (78.5%) had multibacillary (MB) leprosy. From the 50 adult leprosy patients interviewed for detection delay, 16 (32.0%) were females and 38 (76.0%) had MB leprosy. Overall, a mean case detection of 28.1 months (95% CI 21.5–34.7) and a median of 21.5 months were observed. Conclusion The three PEP4LEP study districts remain highly endemic, with long case detection delays observed that increase the risk of disabilities and contribute to ongoing leprosy transmission. Integrating activities such as contact screening and provision of post-exposure prophylaxis are therefore a necessary strategy in these endemic areas.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	209-223
Number of pages	15
Journal	Leprosy Review
Volume	93
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.47276/lr.93.3.209
Publication status	Published - Sept 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This project is part of the EDCTP2 programme supported by the European Union awarded to NLR/LM (grant number RIA2017NIM-1839-PEP4LEP), and the Leprosy Research Initiative (LRI; https://www.leprosyresearch.org) awarded to NLR/LM (grant number 707.19.58). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© The author(s).

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Mwageni, N., Kamara, D., Kisonga, R., Njako, B., Nyakato, P., Pegwa, A., Marco, S., Mayunga, W., Hebron, R., Kidula, S., Masenga, J. E., Hambridge, T., Schoenmakers, A., van Wijk, R., Mieras, L., Kasang, C., Richardus, J. H., & Mshana, S. E. (2022). Leprosy epidemiological trends and diagnosis delay in three districts of Tanzania: A baseline study. Leprosy Review, 93(3), 209-223. https://doi.org/10.47276/lr.93.3.209

@article{133bf4c097984507a43ae9c0528622a1,

title = "Leprosy epidemiological trends and diagnosis delay in three districts of Tanzania: A baseline study",

abstract = "Objectives Leprosy, also known as Hansen{\textquoteright}s disease, is a slowly progressive and chronic infectious neglected tropical disease (NTD) caused by Mycobacterium leprae. This study was performed to assess the epidemiological trend of leprosy in the past five years in the three study districts in Tanzania in which a leprosy prevention intervention study (PEP4LEP) is implemented, and to determine the case detection delay at baseline. Methods Secondary data from the leprosy registry of the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Program of Tanzania from 2015 to 2019 were used to describe the epidemiological trends of leprosy for the three study districts: Morogoro, Mvomero, and Lindi district council. A cross-sectional study was also conducted to assess the delay in leprosy diagnosis at baseline. The chi-square test was used to calculate statistical significance. Results Between 2015 and 2019, 657 new leprosy cases were detected in three districts. Of those cases, 247 (37.6%) were female patients, 5 (0.8%) had a grade 2 disability (G2D) and 516 (78.5%) had multibacillary (MB) leprosy. From the 50 adult leprosy patients interviewed for detection delay, 16 (32.0%) were females and 38 (76.0%) had MB leprosy. Overall, a mean case detection of 28.1 months (95% CI 21.5–34.7) and a median of 21.5 months were observed. Conclusion The three PEP4LEP study districts remain highly endemic, with long case detection delays observed that increase the risk of disabilities and contribute to ongoing leprosy transmission. Integrating activities such as contact screening and provision of post-exposure prophylaxis are therefore a necessary strategy in these endemic areas.",

author = "Nelly Mwageni and Deusdedit Kamara and Riziki Kisonga and Blasdus Njako and Phellister Nyakato and Abdallah Pegwa and Shigela Marco and William Mayunga and Reuben Hebron and Saida Kidula and Masenga, {John E.} and Thomas Hambridge and Anne Schoenmakers and {van Wijk}, Robin and Liesbeth Mieras and Christa Kasang and Richardus, {Jan Hendrik} and Mshana, {Stephen E.}",

note = "Funding Information: This project is part of the EDCTP2 programme supported by the European Union awarded to NLR/LM (grant number RIA2017NIM-1839-PEP4LEP), and the Leprosy Research Initiative (LRI; https://www.leprosyresearch.org) awarded to NLR/LM (grant number 707.19.58). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The author(s).",

year = "2022",

month = sep,

doi = "10.47276/lr.93.3.209",

language = "English",

volume = "93",

pages = "209--223",

journal = "Leprosy Review",

issn = "0305-7518",

publisher = "British Leprosy Relief Association",

number = "3",

}

Mwageni, N, Kamara, D, Kisonga, R, Njako, B, Nyakato, P, Pegwa, A, Marco, S, Mayunga, W, Hebron, R, Kidula, S, Masenga, JE, Hambridge, T , Schoenmakers, A , van Wijk, R, Mieras, L, Kasang, C, Richardus, JH & Mshana, SE 2022, 'Leprosy epidemiological trends and diagnosis delay in three districts of Tanzania: A baseline study', Leprosy Review, vol. 93, no. 3, pp. 209-223. https://doi.org/10.47276/lr.93.3.209

TY - JOUR

T1 - Leprosy epidemiological trends and diagnosis delay in three districts of Tanzania

T2 - A baseline study

AU - Mwageni, Nelly

AU - Kamara, Deusdedit

AU - Kisonga, Riziki

AU - Njako, Blasdus

AU - Nyakato, Phellister

AU - Pegwa, Abdallah

AU - Marco, Shigela

AU - Mayunga, William

AU - Hebron, Reuben

AU - Kidula, Saida

AU - Masenga, John E.

AU - Hambridge, Thomas

AU - Schoenmakers, Anne

AU - van Wijk, Robin

AU - Mieras, Liesbeth

AU - Kasang, Christa

AU - Richardus, Jan Hendrik

AU - Mshana, Stephen E.

N1 - Funding Information: This project is part of the EDCTP2 programme supported by the European Union awarded to NLR/LM (grant number RIA2017NIM-1839-PEP4LEP), and the Leprosy Research Initiative (LRI; https://www.leprosyresearch.org) awarded to NLR/LM (grant number 707.19.58). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © The author(s).

PY - 2022/9

Y1 - 2022/9

N2 - Objectives Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is a slowly progressive and chronic infectious neglected tropical disease (NTD) caused by Mycobacterium leprae. This study was performed to assess the epidemiological trend of leprosy in the past five years in the three study districts in Tanzania in which a leprosy prevention intervention study (PEP4LEP) is implemented, and to determine the case detection delay at baseline. Methods Secondary data from the leprosy registry of the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Program of Tanzania from 2015 to 2019 were used to describe the epidemiological trends of leprosy for the three study districts: Morogoro, Mvomero, and Lindi district council. A cross-sectional study was also conducted to assess the delay in leprosy diagnosis at baseline. The chi-square test was used to calculate statistical significance. Results Between 2015 and 2019, 657 new leprosy cases were detected in three districts. Of those cases, 247 (37.6%) were female patients, 5 (0.8%) had a grade 2 disability (G2D) and 516 (78.5%) had multibacillary (MB) leprosy. From the 50 adult leprosy patients interviewed for detection delay, 16 (32.0%) were females and 38 (76.0%) had MB leprosy. Overall, a mean case detection of 28.1 months (95% CI 21.5–34.7) and a median of 21.5 months were observed. Conclusion The three PEP4LEP study districts remain highly endemic, with long case detection delays observed that increase the risk of disabilities and contribute to ongoing leprosy transmission. Integrating activities such as contact screening and provision of post-exposure prophylaxis are therefore a necessary strategy in these endemic areas.

AB - Objectives Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is a slowly progressive and chronic infectious neglected tropical disease (NTD) caused by Mycobacterium leprae. This study was performed to assess the epidemiological trend of leprosy in the past five years in the three study districts in Tanzania in which a leprosy prevention intervention study (PEP4LEP) is implemented, and to determine the case detection delay at baseline. Methods Secondary data from the leprosy registry of the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Program of Tanzania from 2015 to 2019 were used to describe the epidemiological trends of leprosy for the three study districts: Morogoro, Mvomero, and Lindi district council. A cross-sectional study was also conducted to assess the delay in leprosy diagnosis at baseline. The chi-square test was used to calculate statistical significance. Results Between 2015 and 2019, 657 new leprosy cases were detected in three districts. Of those cases, 247 (37.6%) were female patients, 5 (0.8%) had a grade 2 disability (G2D) and 516 (78.5%) had multibacillary (MB) leprosy. From the 50 adult leprosy patients interviewed for detection delay, 16 (32.0%) were females and 38 (76.0%) had MB leprosy. Overall, a mean case detection of 28.1 months (95% CI 21.5–34.7) and a median of 21.5 months were observed. Conclusion The three PEP4LEP study districts remain highly endemic, with long case detection delays observed that increase the risk of disabilities and contribute to ongoing leprosy transmission. Integrating activities such as contact screening and provision of post-exposure prophylaxis are therefore a necessary strategy in these endemic areas.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85137361960&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.47276/lr.93.3.209

DO - 10.47276/lr.93.3.209

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SN - 0305-7518

VL - 93

SP - 209

EP - 223

JO - Leprosy Review

JF - Leprosy Review

IS - 3

ER -

Leprosy epidemiological trends and diagnosis delay in three districts of Tanzania: A baseline study

Abstract

Bibliographical note

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