[Hansen's disease in the territorial collective of Mayotte (Indian Ocean); retrospective study from 1990-1998]

Mayotte French island of the Comoro Islands in the Indian Ocean, is located in a leprosy endemic area including the other islands of the archipelago and Madagascar island. As the last Hansen's disease epidemiological study in the island have been reported in 1982, we achieved a new valuation by a retrospective study on the 1990-1998 period. Our investigation showed that the disease was still endemic with a prevalence of 32/100,000 population in 1998 and an high annual new case detection rate (14 to 31/100,000 population). The profile of the newly detected cases was the same that reported at the world level (prédominance of males, less than 45-years old adults and paucibacillary forms) with two exceptions: the high percentage of children below 15 years of age (28.2%) and of family cases (25.3%). Moreover, 12.6% of the new cases exhibited disabilities grade 2 at the time of the diagnosis. These features emphasize the need for an enhanced leprosy control in this island which has a well-developed medical assistance.