Sensitivity of Slit Skin Smear examination in suspected Leprosy cases in a tertiary care centre: Rising trends

Introduction: Conventional diagnosis of leprosy in a tertiary care centre. Objective: To study the sensitivity of Slit Skin Smear (SSS) examination in patients suspected of Leprosy in a Medical College Hospital from Jan 2012-Dec 2016. Method: A retrospective study from Jan 2012 to Dec 2016 was made to study the number of smear positive cases from among the skin samples submitted to the Department of Microbiology, Government Medical College, Amritsar. Smears were collected from eight sites, stained by the ZN method and checked for the presence of AFB under oil immersion lens. Results: Of the 363 sets of slides examined, 114 were found positive. Five year sensitivity on average was 31.4% with a significant increase in AFB positivity noted every year from 21.2% to 42.35%. Conclusion: SSS as a diagnostic tool is increasingly losing its place to molecular tests which are still limited to a few centres. Now that the country has achieved its elimination target of Prevalence Rate of <1/ 10,000 population, it is imperative to use all resources at our disposal so as not to lose any leprosy patient walking in through our General health services.