Survey on child leprosy patients and problems resulted from the disease in China

To understand the situation of child leprosy patients in the low prevalence situation pertaining in China.

A retrospective survey by questionnaire was carried out in all 32 provinces of mainland of China in 2011. All data concerning child cases detected from January 2005 to December 2009 were collected by professional health workers working at county level.

During the study, only 165 questionnaires were collected for analysis. Among 165 child cases, 96 were boys, 69 were girls with an average age of 11-7 years old. 80% of child cases were members of families with other leprosy affected people. 145 (85%) child cases took their MDT secretly (nobody outside the family knew the child suffered from leprosy), and three (1.8%) children died, one each from dapsone syndrome, suicide and severe pneumonia. During follow-up, four child cases developed new disability increasing the Grade 2 disability rate to 13.3% (22/165). At end of the study, 8.2% of children had discontinued their study at school, and 7.5% had moved to a remote place to do casual work, while 6.3% stayed at home. 31% of child patients thought that leprosy caused a negative impact on their daily life. Two children had a hostile attitude toward society due to the stigma caused by leprosy.

In both high and low endemic areas, as long as there is an infectious source of leprosy in the family, there is a possibility for children to develop leprosy. Contact surveys should be done to detect early disease, especially when there are children in the household.