Hansen's disease (leprosy) in Japan, 1947-2020: an epidemiologic study during the declining phase to elimination.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Leprosy, or Hansen's disease was a major public health problem in Japan in the early 20th century. Today, the number of new cases has decreased significantly. We aimed to investigate the trends of leprosy in Japan over the past 73 years and the challenges faced in recent years.

Methods

We assessed the data on newly registered cases of leprosy from 1947 to 2020.

Results

A total of 10,796 newly registered cases of leprosy were reported during the study period, of which 7573 were registered in mainland Japan, 2962 in Okinawa, and 250 were of foreign origin. Most autochthonous cases were born before 1950 in mainland Japan and before 1975 in Okinawa. The number of nonautochthonous cases surpassed that of autochthonous cases in 1992. Nonautochthonous cases origin

SUBMITTER: Yotsu RR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9798910 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature