[Conjugal leprosy infection in Japan--case report and review]

The authors reported a conjugal leprosy infection observed in Japan. The husband, index case, first noticed sensory disturbance at the lower right leg in his forties. He developed edematous swelling with redness of the right hand and forearm at the age of 72 (1989), and then developed multiple erythema and hypesthesia at the extremities. He was diagnosed as BL type leprosy (reactional stage) and treated with multi-drug therapy. His 71-year-old wife developed a few erythema at the right forearm in 1993. She was classified as BT type. The duration of their marriage life was over forty years. The couple did not have consanguinity. No other leprosy patients were found in their lineage. From their clinical courses the authors concluded that the husband infected his wife. According to Japanese literatures, the frequency of conjugal leprosy among new patients in Japan was approximately 1%. There were worldwide observations that the husband often infected the wife, and mostly the index case was multibacillary and the secondary case paucibacillary. The authors reviewed definition and frequency of conjugal leprosy, factors in conjugal infection and leprosy infection among the adults.