A cross-sectional study was carried out to identify methods of caring plantar ulcers in leprosy patients and the underlying causes of poor plantar ulcer care during January and February 2008. This was conducted in Pakokku zone as it was one of the “9 selected townships of the Disabilities survey, i.e., Basic Health Staff project 2003/4”, which was funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency. After getting consent, all available leprosy cases, i.e., 101 cases with foot disability grade 2 were interviewed with the pre-tested questionnaire. Among 101 cases, 13 cases who took care of their ulcer poorly and 20 who did none of the recommended measures were recruited for in-depth interview (IDI). The subjects were largely old people, males and people with no marriage partner. The majority had earned money by doing sedentary job. Prolongation of ulcers was observed in 78 cases. Most had been suffering from ulcers for years. When asking face-to-face interview, all the recommended care measures were not reported. Among these recommended measures, a large number of respondents reported about soaking measure. However, these reported measures were contradicted to the preventive methods which they disclosed in IDI. Plantar ulcer care seemed to be an individualised practice. The individual ways of performing were related to their view of ulcer, the environment, and occupation, and custom, communication with family and health staff. The findings identified the actual practice of plantar ulcer care in study areas. It is suggested that the current performance of planar ulcer care is inadequate and more attention should be given to achieve the target set by the programme as a recommendation.

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  The origin, history, sensitivity to anti-leprosy drugs and genotypic characteristics for 27 strains maintained at the Leprosy Research Center in Tokyo are described. Strains are isolated and passaged in nude mouse footpads, and frozen bacillary suspensions with different generations are also maintained. The Leprosy Research Center provides bacillary materials as experimental resources at researchers’ request.

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  The simple method to detect mutations conferring resistant to dapsone, rifampicin, and quinolone was exploited in Mycobacterium. leprae on the basis of reverse DNA hybridization with capture probe fixed to the glass slide. Mutations were discriminated by a series of oligonucleotide probes corresponding to each mutation in the folP1, rpoB, and gyrA genes of M. leprae. The method was transferred to two laboratories in developing countries. The results obtained with the kit at those laboratories were highly concordant with results of sequencing. The method is feasible for the testing by local person in areas with high prevalence of leprosy.
  This article is abstract of the study published in Journal of Medical Microbiology vol.57, 1213-1219, 2008.

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  "Effectiveness of the sole protection and the plantar ulcer treatment of Micro Cellular Rubber (MCR) sandals" was investigated as a part of research enterprise "Research concerning the diagnosis, treatment, and the prevention of disability of an effective Leprosy in Myanmar" of the international medical treatment cooperation for three years since 2007. Furthermore "Introduction of Orthotics for the footdrop" was recently attempted through those activities.
  We participated for two research items from 2007, and reported on the research content and the result. We discussed the ideal way of international technical support for the developing countries in the future. Conclusively we recognized further expected works in this field 1) to train more numbers of orthotic practitioners for MCR sandals; 2) to make them skillful; 3) to train Prosthetists and Orthotists (PO) in Myanmar leaders; and 4) to organize helpers in Japan including preparation for publishing guidelines for PO workers.

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