[Leprosy in The Netherlands in the period 1970-1991].

OBJECTIVE: To inventory the changes in leprosy epidemiology in the Netherlands.

DESIGN: Retrospective.

SETTING: Academic Medical Centre (Amsterdam) and University Hospital Dijkzigt (Rotterdam), the Netherlands.

METHOD: The medical records of all new leprosy patients in the period 1970-1991 were analysed.

RESULTS: Between 1970 and 1991, 622 new leprosy patients were registered; 371 men (59.6%) and 251 women (40.4%). Most patients came from Surinam (73.3%) and Indonesia (7.2%). The mean time lapse between onset and treatment in the Netherlands was 10.1 years. Switching from monotherapy to combination therapy (1979) had no effect on the incidence of reversal reactions (cellular hypersensitivity in immunologically unstable patients), but did affect the incidence of erythema nodosum leprosum during the treatment.

CONCLUSION: Leprosy in the Netherlands is an important disease, mainly from Surinam. The main advantage of combination therapy is the shortened duration of treatment. The treatment of choice is the one recommended by the WHO, the combination therapy with rifampicin administration once a month, because of the few adverse effects.