Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017 Jun;19(6):23.
doi: 10.1007/s11908-017-0577-6.

Leprosy in Children

Josafá Gonçalves Barreto  1 , Marco Andrey Cipriani Frade  2 , Fred Bernardes Filho  2 , Moises Batista da Silva  3 , John Stewart Spencer  4 , Claudio Guedes Salgado  3
Affiliations
Review

Leprosy in Children

Josafá Gonçalves Barreto et al. Curr Infect Dis Rep. 2017 Jun.

Abstract

Purpose of review: This manuscript aims to review the cutting-edge developments regarding to the diagnosis, management, and prevention of leprosy in children.

Recent findings: Leprosy transmission still occurs continuously in some endemic areas in the world. Leprosy in children below 15 years old is a robust indicator of active source of infection in the community where they live. A special focus on children to reduce disabilities and reduce transmission is one of the core areas of interventions of the global leprosy strategy 2016-2020. Ongoing research is trying to develop better diagnostic tests and to advance chemoprophylaxis and immunoprophylaxis approaches. Early diagnosis in children can be hard because of the wide range of clinical aspects of the skin lesions and mainly due to the difficulty of performing the clinical peripheral nerve evaluation. We must maintain leprosy expertise and improve the health professionals training for leprosy diagnosis, since we still have a long journey to reach leprosy elimination.

Keywords: Children; Early diagnosis; Leprosy.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Int J Lepr Other Mycobact Dis. 1975 Apr-Jun;43(2):125-8 - PubMed
    1. Lepr Rev. 2011 Mar;82(1):17-24 - PubMed
    1. Lepr Rev. 2014 Jun;85(2):93-9 - PubMed
    1. Int J Mycobacteriol. 2015 Mar;4(1):54-9 - PubMed
    1. Lancet Infect Dis. 2016 Jul;16(7):778 - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources