Recent condition of new leprosy patients in Japan

Abstract

Most of 148 newly registered leprosy patients in the past 10 years from 1995 to 2004 in Japan had received some examinations, such as histopathology test (85%), skin smear test (84%), estimation of PGL-I antibody titer (55%) or detection M. leprae with PCR method (41%).
17% of newly patients should receive wrong therapy, if they hadnot had aforesaid clinical examinations in addition to count skin lesions.
Improvement of technical level at skin smear test should be required for accurate treatment program in Japan.
In Japanese patients, the number has been decreasing year by year; epidemiological condition was different between in Okinawa prefecture and in others, about ratio of sex, kind of type and age group.