This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Sign in
Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages without signing in

Epidemiology

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Mycobacterium leprae affects 12 million people in the tropics and the subtropics. About 66% are in Asia.

Once infected, the subsequent progression to clinical disease is dependent on various factors:

  • sex - males appear to be more susceptible than females. A ratio of about 2:1 is seen in India.

  • genetics - there has been shown to be a concordance with respect to susceptibility in identical but not non-identical twins

  • the patient's immune response - a patient with an ineffective immune response is likely to develop the lepromatous form of the disease, rather than the tuberculoid form seen in patients with an effective immune response

Create an account to add page annotations

Create a free account

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.