01624nas a2200277   4500000000100000008004100001260000900042653001000051653002600061653001100087653001200098653000900110653002500119653001800144100001300162700001300175700001400188700001700202700001200219700001500231245009400246300001000340490000700350520097500357022001401332       1994                            d  c199410aAdult10aAnti-Bacterial Agents10aHumans10aleprosy10aMale10aMycobacterium leprae10aNew Caledonia1 aMonchy D1 aHuerre M1 aCrouzat M1 aDubourdieu D1 aDuval P1 aSottil J P00a[Leprosy in New Caledonia from 1983 to 1992. Histopathological and epidemiological data].  a28-320 v873 a<p>New Caledonia is a South Pacific Island inhabited by more than 170,000 people: most of them are melanesians or europeans. Multidrug therapy for Hansen disease has been employed since 1983; so we made an epidemiologic and histopathologic study of the new cases diagnosed for 10 years, from 1983 to 1992. Local (clinical, histological, microbiological and immunological) means of diagnosis are described. In New Caledonia, the endemic level is lower than in the small neighbouring Pacific islands but there is still a native reservoir of Mycobacterium leprae with 40% multibacillary types. Nearly half of the new cases are less than 25 years old. They are often male melanesians. The diagnosis of indeterminate forms is debated when there is no acid-fast bacillus. Border-line forms are rare. Tuberculoid leprosy poses many differential diagnosis problems. Despite available multidrug therapy, one cannot yet consider that the incidence is decreasing significantly.</p>  a0037-9085