Specialized active leprosy search strategies in an endemic area of the Brazilian Amazon identifies a hypermutated Mycobacterium leprae strain causing primary drug resistance.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Leprosy, an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, remains a public health concern in endemic countries, particularly in Brazil. In this study, we conducted an active surveillance campaign in the hyperendemic city of Castanhal in the northeastern part of the state of Pará using clinical signs and symptoms combined with serological and molecular tools to diagnose new cases and to identify drug resistance of circulating M. leprae strains and their distribution in the community.

Methods

During an active surveillance of one week, we enrolled 318 individuals using three different strategies to enroll subjects for this study: (i) an active survey of previously treated cases from 2006 to 2016 found in the Brazil National Notifiable Disease Inf

SUBMITTER: Bouth RC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10534026 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature