02231nas a2200373   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001500055653001000070653001900080653003100099653001100130653001400141653001200155653001200167653002500179653001500204653002600219653000900245653001100254100001200265700001300277700001300290700001200303700001100315700001300326245006400339856004100403300001000444490000700454050001300461520136900474022001401843       2000                            d  c2000 Mar10aAdolescent10aChild10aCohort Studies10aEmigration and Immigration10aHumans10aIndonesia10aleprosy10aMyanmar10aMycobacterium leprae10aPrevalence10aRetrospective Studies10aSkin10aTaiwan1 aLue H C1 aChen J C1 aChao J Y1 aHsiao D1 aChou P1 aWang L S00aEpidemiology of leprosy in Taiwan; its pattern in children.  uhttp://ila.ilsl.br/pdfs/v68n1a08.pdf  a57-620 v68  aLUE 20003 a<p><b>OBJECTIVE: </b>To study the epidemiology of leprosy in children in Taiwan.</p><p><b>SETTING: </b>Taiwan, with a population increase from 3.3 to 21.7 million, several tides of immigration and national leprosy control programs, from 1910 to 1997.</p><p><b>DESIGN: </b>To collect and analyze the documents of Taiwan leprosy surveys and charts of the National Leprosy Control Center.</p><p><b>PATIENTS AND MEASUREMENTS: </b>Cumulative and new number of all-age and pediatric-age patients, prevalence rates, new case detection rates, and results of skin bacterial smears.</p><p><b>RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: </b>The prevalence rates of all-age leprosy ranged between 1.54 and 3.22 per 10,000 population. The proportion of children among all-age patients reached the highest of 4.93% in 1966, dropping to 0% in 1984 and thereafter, until 1988 and 1991 when two and one pediatric-age patients appeared, respectively, following the influx of immigrants from leprosy-endemic countries. The rise and fall of new patients younger than 15 years and 15 years or older were slightly correlated (r = 0.935, p < 0.001). Detection and confirmation of leprosy in children are usually belated. Physicians should still be acquainted with the clinical diagnosis of leprosy since sporadic cases of leprosy can reappear, particularly among children coming from endemic countries.</p>  a0148-916X