TY - JOUR KW - Microsimulation KW - leprosy KW - Intervention scenarios KW - Infant KW - Case detection KW - BCG vaccination AU - Fischer E AU - Vlas SJ AU - Habbema J D AU - Richardus JH AB -

Leprosy is a contagious disease that will remain prevalent, despite the declining number of patients worldwide over the last century. With approximately 250,000 new cases detected annually, leprosy is far from being eradicated. Leprosy can be treated with drugs after disease detection. Some cases can be prevented with a tuberculosis vaccine (BCG) that cross-reacts with the bacterium responsible for leprosy, but this vaccine might be replaced in the future. Furthermore, preventive drugs can reduce the number of new cases among people in contact with infectious patients, but this strategy has not yet become established in common practice. Also, a new test is under development for the detection of infections before the appearance of symptoms. In this study, we used a computer model to assess the effectiveness of seven possible leprosy control activities. Our results showed that the decline in incidence of leprosy would slow down or halt with the introduction of a new tuberculosis vaccine that is ineffective against leprosy. However, this effect could be offset by the implementation of effective tests for early diagnosis or the routine administration of preventative drugs to contacts of patients.

BT - Public Library of Science C2 -

USA

CY - San Francisco DA - 09/2011 DO - 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001330 IS - 9 J2 - PLoS Negl Trop Dis LA - eng N2 -

Leprosy is a contagious disease that will remain prevalent, despite the declining number of patients worldwide over the last century. With approximately 250,000 new cases detected annually, leprosy is far from being eradicated. Leprosy can be treated with drugs after disease detection. Some cases can be prevented with a tuberculosis vaccine (BCG) that cross-reacts with the bacterium responsible for leprosy, but this vaccine might be replaced in the future. Furthermore, preventive drugs can reduce the number of new cases among people in contact with infectious patients, but this strategy has not yet become established in common practice. Also, a new test is under development for the detection of infections before the appearance of symptoms. In this study, we used a computer model to assess the effectiveness of seven possible leprosy control activities. Our results showed that the decline in incidence of leprosy would slow down or halt with the introduction of a new tuberculosis vaccine that is ineffective against leprosy. However, this effect could be offset by the implementation of effective tests for early diagnosis or the routine administration of preventative drugs to contacts of patients.

PB - Public Library of Science PP - San Francisco PY - 2011 EP - e1330 T2 - Public Library of Science TI - The Long Term Effect of Current and New Interventions on the New Case Detection of Leprosy: A Modeling Study UR - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3176744/pdf/pntd.0001330.pdf VL - 5 ER -