Leprosy remains one of the major world’s unresolved infectious diseases. This study was designed to throw some lights on this disease in Kalyoubia Governorate and to describe the socio-medical aspects of its victims. The target group comprised 394 patients registered in leprosy control unit in Benha City, during a period of three years (1992-1995). The results of the study showed that multibacillary (MB) type of leprosy constituted about one quarter of cases while paucibacillary (PB) type was diagnosed in 73.4% of patients. Males constituted two-thirds of cases. The majority of MB patients (60.1%) were less than 45 years in age, while 65.4% of patients with PB leprosy aged 45 years or more with a statistically significant difference (P<0.01). The percentage of married cases was significantly lower in MB than PB types (55.2% & 73.4% respectively). Two-thirds of the studied cases were detected through notification while 32.7% of them attended the unit voluntarily and only 0.8% of patients were detected through surveys implemented by the unit. The majority of cases (94.9%) were detected at the age of 15 years or more. The commonest skin lesions in MB type were plaques and multiple lesions while macules represented the frequent lesions in PB type. Nerve lesions occurred in 81.8% of MB and 76.1% of PB while eye lesions represented only 1.0% of PB cases. The highest grade of disability was met with in 23.8% of MB patients compared to only 3.5% of PB type with a statistically significant difference (P< 0.01). Regular attendance for management was significantly higher among cases of MB than PB type of leprosy. In conclusion, leprosy is a serious health problem needing early case detection, proper management and care for disabled case
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