ABSTRACT
Leprosy is a major public-health problem in developing countries like India. Studies pertaining to proportion and characteristics of pediatric cases are few in number. As these reflect indirectly the effectiveness of programme, this study has been carried out to know the clinical, bacteriological and histopathological characteristics of childhood leprosy cases who came to Dermatology Venerology Leprology (DVL) Outpatient Department of a Tertiary Care Centre in South India over a period of 2 years (from January 2015 to December 2016). This prospective observational study had 26 (23%) pediatric cases of leprosy out of 113 who attended DVL OPD. The age of childhood leprosy cases ranged from 10 to 18 years with mean of 14 years. 76% cases were males and 24% cases were females. 84% cases presented with hypopigmented, anaesthetic patches, 11% cases with grade 3 disabilities and 3% with tingling and numbness of both feet. 80% cases were MB and 20% were PB. 76% of children had multiple skin lesions and 24% had single skin lesion (SSL). Of the 20 multiple skin lesions cases examined histopathologically, 11 showed features of BT, BL and LL with overall concordance of 55% (11/20). Among cases clinically classified as MB, 33 % cases were smear positive. Overall 7/26 ( 26%) of child cases in our study were bacteriologically positive. Only 19% of patients had history of contact within the household. 8% cases developed LR. Six cases had deformities. The mean duration of symptoms was around six months. All the patients were treated with MDT. The present study though small and may/may not be representative of distribution/profile of leprosy in children at population level indicates the severity of childhood leprosy in society as evidenced by MB nature, high bacteriological positivity and unacceptable disability rate. After in depth studies at community level, strategy need to be improved to ensure early diagnosis and treatment.