02746nas a2200481   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001500055653001000070653002100080653001000101653002100111653002800132653002100160653001100181653002400192653001100216653001400227653001100241653001200252653002000264653001100284653000900295653001900304653002100323653002800344653001500372653001500387653002600402653001700428653002100445100001400466700001300480700001300493700001300506700001700519245004500536856005800581300001000639490000700649520159400656022001402250       2003                            d  c2003 Dec10aAdolescent10aAdult10aAge Distribution10aChild10aChild, Preschool10aCross-Sectional Studies10aEndemic Diseases10aFemale10aHospitals, District10aHumans10aIncidence10aInfant10aleprosy10aLife Expectancy10aMalawi10aMale10aMass Screening10aNeeds Assessment10aPopulation Surveillance10aPrevalence10aRegistries10aRetrospective Studies10aRisk Factors10aSex Distribution1 aChisi J E1 aNkhoma A1 aZverev Y1 aMisiri H1 aKomolafe O O00aLeprosy in Nkhotakota District Hospital.  uhttp://www.ajol.info/index.php/eamj/article/view/8780  a635-90 v803 a<p><b>OBJECTIVE: </b>To study the profile of leprosy cases at Nkhotakota District Hospital in Central Region of Malawi.</p><p><b>DESIGN: </b>Retrospective cross-sectional study of all registered cases of leprosy from records over a nine year period (January 1992 to April 2001)</p><p><b>SETTING: </b>Nkhotakota District Hospital-Central Region of Malawi.</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>In total 526 cases of leprosy were identified from the records. The prevalence rates gradually increased from 0.998 per 10,000 cases in 1992 to 3.39 cases per 10,000 in 1995. There was however a gradual decline of prevalence rates from 1997/1998 that had 3.17 cases per 10,000 to 1.3 cases per 10,000 in 2001. 1996 registered 2.34 cases per 10,000. Fifty seven cases (10.8%) were found with children of the age of 14 or below and 469 (89.2%) cases were of adults. Paucibacillary leprosy presented with more cases than multibacillary leprosy (p < 0.0000001). There were 80 (15.2%) cases of multibacillary leprosy compared to 446 (84.8%) cases of paucibacillary leprosy. In addition more males were affected by multibacillary leprosy than females (p < 0.0001) and females were more affected by paucibacillary leprosy (p < 0.01) than males.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION: </b>The results show that paucibacillary leprosy though minor in Malawi can become endemic as paucibacillary leprosy is a reflection of leprosy contacts in the population. We therefore recommend continued epidemiological surveys of leprosy. Training in leprosy detection should be encouraged so that this disease can be totally eradicated in Malawi.</p>  a0012-835X