01836nas a2200301   4500000000100000008004100001260001700042653002600059653001900085653002100104653001100125653001400136653001200150653002200162653002500184653001500209100001200224700001500236700001200251700001500263700001400278245014400292300001000436490000700446050003200453520103500485022001401520       1999                            d  c1999 Jan-Mar10aAntibodies, Bacterial10aDNA, Bacterial10aEndemic Diseases10aHumans10aIndonesia10aleprosy10aMolecular Biology10aMycobacterium leprae10aPrevalence1 aIzumi S1 aBudiawan T1 aSaeki K1 aMatsuoka M1 aKawatsu K00aAn epidemiological study on Mycobacterium leprae infection and prevalence of leprosy in endemic villages by molecular biological technique.  a37-430 v71  aInfolep Library - available3 a<p>One of the most important unsolved questions in epidemiology of leprosy is the highly uneven geographic distribution of the disease. There are many hyperendemic "pockets" in endemic countries. Little is known about the reasons why leprosy is hyperendemic in these areas. We conducted, therefore, a series of epidemiological studies on Mycobacterium leprae infection and prevalence of leprosy in North Maluku district, Maluku Province, Indonesia where leprosy is highly endemic. It was found that considerable number of general inhabitants are seropositive to various mycobacterial antigens and 27% of the villagers were carrying leprosy bacilli on their surface of nasal cavity. These results suggested the importance of M. leprae in the residential environment in infection of the leprosy bacillus and the resulting transmission of the disease. Based on these observations, we conclude that new preventive measures are essential for global elimination of leprosy in addition to early diagnosis and multidrug therapy (MDT).</p>  a0254-9395