Leprosy on Korea, 2001-2015: situation and perspectives

Leprosy(Hansen’s disease) is caused by Mycobacterium leprae and is a chronic disease affecting the skin and nerves, commonly presenting as pale or reddish skin patches with diminished sensation. An important factor in leprosy is early diagnosis and prompts initiation of therapy. But it is rare recently; clinicians are often unfamiliar with it. To better characterize at-risk general populations, leprosy trends during 2001.2015 were evaluated by reviewing records. During 2001-2015, there were 198 new cases(172 Korea-born, 26 foreign-born) with an average annual incidence rate of 0.26 cases per 1 million persons. A decline in the rate for new diagnoses from 0.77 to 0.04 per million was observed, whereas the rate of it among foreign-born persons is not changed (mean: 2.58). Between Korea-born persons and foreign-born persons, a mean age of new cases is 63.1 & 28.7, sex ratios is 91.1 & 342.9, and ratio of MB type is 87% & 73%. The most common birthplaces are Kyungbook(22%) & Junnam(22%) in Korea-born cases and Indonesia (23%) & Sri Lanka(23%) in foreign-born cases, and most common recent residence on the diagnosis is Kyunggi(20%). Leprosy is no longer a major public health problem on Korea, as indicated by the low incidence. However, given the influx of migrants from leprosy-endemic countries, the risk of resurgence of the disease and of renewed autochthonous transmission is real. In conclusion, our experience shows that “active detection, systematic declaration and rapid treatment” are the 3 key measures to obtain eradication of leprosy in a community and those measures must be maintained to consolidate eradication.