Leprosy on the increase

Nadira Gunatilleke

Leprosy is on the rise in Sri Lanka. Around 2,000 new patients are reported every year during the last 10 years, doctors said.

About 2,225 new patients were detected in 2011 and another 2,007 patients detected in 2012 up to November. Leprosy patients are reported from all 25 districts, they said.
Around 45 percent of leprosy patients are reported from the Western Province.

The highest number of patients are reported from the Colombo district when 446 cases are reported from Colombo in 2011. Around nine percent of new cases were children bellow 15 years. Around 20 percent of patients do not complete treatment.

These patients have a higher risk of developing drug resistance and relapses. About 56 percent of new patients are diagnosed after six months of symptoms appearance due to the lack of awareness among the public, the doctors said. The rate of affecting children remains high in districts such as Puttalam, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Kalutara and Colombo, they said. Patients could be cured without any deformities with early diagnosis and completing treatment regimes on time.

Hypo-pigmented, erythematous, anesthesia or hyperesthesthesia skin lesions, skin nodules and lumps, numbness, clawing of fingers, wrist drop, foot drop, painless wounds / ulcers in hands and feet and ocular manifestations are some symptoms of Leprosy. High population is one of the main reasons behind the increase of leprosy in Sri Lanka, they added.