RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Leprosy is at a low endemic situation in China, the value of house contact survey in case detection of leprosy becoming a dispute. AIMS: To evaluate the value of household contact survey in the case detection of leprosy at a low endemic situation in China. METHODS: A study was carried out using a designed questionnaire in a retrospective method to analyze the value of household contact survey in case detection in Southwest and East China. RESULTS: A total of 2135 index leprosy patients were collected from January 1, 1996 to December 31, 2005 in six provinces of China. The number of index patients accounted for 22.0 and 14.1% of newly registered patients in the Southwest and East of China, respectively. The household contact survey (36.1%) and the skin clinic (62.0%) ranked first in methods of case detection in Southwest and East China, respectively. Within 5 years after primary leprosy patients were detected, 24.8 and 16.1% of the index patients in Southwest China and East China had been detected, respectively. CONCLUSION: The authors conclude that at the time of a low leprosy endemic situation, the household contact survey is still a useful method for case detection in China.