02521nas a2200421 4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653002500055653001300080653001100093653002100104653001100125653001100136653002000147653004600167653001200213653000900225653001400234653002400248100001300272700001100285700001100296700001300307700001300320700001300333700001400346700001400360700001500374700001200389700001300401700001400414700001300428245008500441300000900526490001500535520153500550022001402085 2007 d c2007 Oct10aCase-Control Studies10aEthiopia10aFemale10aGrowth Disorders10aHumans10aInfant10aInfant, Newborn10aInfectious Disease Transmission, Vertical10aleprosy10aMale10aPregnancy10aProspective Studies1 aDuncan E1 aMiko T1 aHowe R1 aHansen S1 aMenzel S1 aMelsom R1 aFrommel D1 aBezuneh E1 aHunegnaw M1 aAmare G1 aWagaye W1 aChallis A1 aAseffa A00aGrowth and development of children of mothers with leprosy and healthy controls. a9-230 v45 Suppl 13 a
INTRODUCTION: In the pre-sulphone and early sulphone years children of leprous parents had been followed in a few prospective studies to observe the development of leprosy. No studies were made of the growth and development of these children.
METHODS: A prospective, open-ended, cohort study began in 1975 with follow-up of both mothers and their children until 2003. 156 pregnancies were studied consisting of 36 non-leprous (NL), 25 tuberculoid and borderline tuberculoid leprosy (TT&BT) (released-from-treatment), 18 with TT&BT (active), 42 borderline lepromatous leprosy (BL) and 35 lepromatous leprosy (LL).
RESULTS: Babies of mothers with leprosy had lower birth weight, smaller placentae, grew more slowly, had more infections and higher infant mortality than those of non-leprous mothers. The findings were most marked in babies of LL mothers. Growth in childhood was uneventful, infants of LL mothers catching up by age 3.6 years. Childhood infections were common in all groups but more serious for children of lepromatous mothers. The puberty skeletal growth spurt, and, for the girls, menarche was delayed for children studied compared with a new healthy control group, with catch-up by late teens. These findings were most marked in children of lepromatous, especially LL, mothers.
CONCLUSION: Impaired growth in utero and infancy is probably due to immunological factors but we could find no explanation for the delayed growth in adolescent children of LL mothers.
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