02019nas a2200205   4500000000100000008004100001653003300042653001200075653001100087100001200098700001200110700001800122700001400140700001400154700001400168245012300182856007900305050002500384520140400409       2013                            d10aContacts of leprosy patients10aleprosy10aBrazil1 aSarno E1 aSales A1 aCosta Nery JA1 aDuppre NC1 aHacker MA1 aSantos DS00aKinship and leprosy in the contacts of leprosy patients: cohort at the Souza Araújo outpatient clinic, Rio de Janeiro  uhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3649227/pdf/JTM2013-596316.pdf  aSANTOSDOSSANTOS 20133 aA broad variety of factors have been associated with leprosy among contacts, including socioeconomic, epidemiological, and genetic characteristics. Data from 7,174 contacts of leprosy patients from a leprosy outpatient clinic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1987–2010, were analyzed to investigate the effects of kinship, individual, and contextual factors on leprosy. Multivariate analyses were performed using a robust estimation method. In the prevalence analysis, close kinship (sibling OR = 2.75, offspring OR = 2.00, and other relatives OR = 1.70), socioeconomic factors, and the duration of exposure to the bacillus were associated to leprosy. In the incidence analysis, significant risks were found for all categories of kinship (parents RR = 10.93, spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, and bride/groom RR = 7.53, sibling RR = 7.03, offspring RR = 5.34, and other relatives RR = 3.71). Once the treatment of the index case was initiated, other factors lost their significance, and the index case bacteriological index and BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine) protection had a greater impact. Our findings suggested that both genetic susceptibility and physical exposure play an important role in the epidemiology of leprosy, but it was not possible establishing the role of genetic factor. Analyses of other factors related to the genotype of individuals, such as genetic polymorphisms, are needed.