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. 2019 Feb 7:29:100514.
doi: 10.1016/j.nmni.2018.10.010. eCollection 2019 May.

Leprosy in French Polynesia

D Musso  1   2 , C Rovery  3 , A Loukil  4 , V Vialette  1 , N L Nguyen  5
Affiliations

Leprosy in French Polynesia

D Musso et al. New Microbes New Infect. .

Abstract

Leprosy is a neglected endemic infectious disease in the Pacific region. In French Polynesia (FP), leprosy is no longer a public health problem at the national level, defined by the World Health Organization as a prevalence rate below 1 case per 10,000 population. However, even if its incidence has dramatically declined in FP in the last decades, leprosy is still endemic at a low level. Here we present a case of leprosy in a 34-year-old man from FP diagnosed in 2018. Clinical and microbiologic examinations, including fluorescence in-situ hybridization, led to the diagnosis of a multibacillary leprosy, and multidrug therapy was initiated. There is a need to maintain leprosy surveillance and trained medical staff for the detection and treatment of new cases.

Keywords: French Polynesia; Pacific; leprosy.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Leprosy in 34-year-old French Polynesian man.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Incidence rate of leprosy in French Polynesia (cases per 10,000 population) from 1967 to 2017.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Smears showing numerous acid-fast bacilli with intracellular and extracellular globi.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Microscopic images of smears from nasal mucosa (A) and skin biopsy (B) combining FISH with DAPI and Ziehl-Neelsen staining. Image acquisition was performed for same microscopic field using Hamamatsu Orca AG camera (Hamamatsu Photonics, Herrsching-am-Ammersee, Germany) to visualize FISH-positive mycobacteria (left panels) and using DFC425C Digital Microscope Camera (Leica Microsystems, Nanterre, France) for Ziehl-Neelsen–positive mycobacteria (right panels). DAPI, 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; FISH, fluorescence in-situ hybridization.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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