During a special drive between Sept. 26 and Oct. 11, 67 confirmed leprosy cases were detected in Mumbai, which is the highest in the last five years.
Nearly 7,822 suspected cases have also been detected in the past 15 days. The figures become more alarming as 286 confirmed cases have already been detected in routine check-ups conducted this year, so far. One of the reasons behind the increase in cases could be Covid, as patients were not being screened due to restrictions.
“We have detected 67 confirmed leprosy cases compared to 52 cases in 2021 and 38 in 2020. Of the total cases detected during the special drive, 40 cases were of multibacillary (MB) leprosy and 27 paucibacillary (PB) leprosy. 9 cases were detected in children and 6 cases with grade 2 deformity were found,” said BMC Assistant Director (Leprosy) Dr Manish Renghe. Another round of door-to-door visits will be conducted so that no patient is left out, he added.
From Sept 13-30, the state detected over 6,200 confirmed leprosy cases after screening more than 8 crore people under the special drive launched last month. Between June and September, the state could report over 12,000 leprosy cases during the routine screening, however, the special drive helped identify the hidden and suspected cases as well.
BMC Executive Health Officer Dr Mangala Gomare said, “We will be increasing surveillance and have instructed all the medical health officers to re-visit the houses and check for hidden or undetected leprosy cases.”
“The common leprosy symptoms are discolored patches of skin that may look numb and look faded, growth nodules on the skin, thick, stiffy or dry skin, painless ulcers on the soles of the feet, painless swelling or lumps on the face or earlobes and loss of eyebrows or eyelashes,” Dr Gomare added.
“There is a need for detecting undetected leprosy cases as it causes morbidity and disability. Detection and treatment also disrupts the chain of transmission. We should be able to get the backlog cases too. It is observed that leprosy is endemic in tribal areas, though there is no direct cause and effect factor known,” said a senior health expert.
In 2005, the prevalence of leprosy in India came down to 1 in 10,000 people. With this, India had achieved the national elimination target as set by the WHO. As per a 2018 article published in the peer reviewed journal Indian Dermatology, the number of cases detected suddenly began to rise post-2016 when the number of districts with prevalence between 1 and 2 per 10,000 went up to 76 and the number of districts with prevalence between 2 and 5 per 10,000 climbed to 39. Prevalence rate is the number of cases detected per 10,000 people screened for the infection.
Maharashtra's prevalence rate, 0.89 for the year 2021-22, is double when compared to the country's prevalence rate which stands at 0.45 for the same year. However, the state argues that they could find these many cases due to increased surveillance.
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