Leprosy. Our Southeast Asian refugee experience

In the past two years, we have diagnosed four cases of leprosy at the St Paul-Ramsey Hospital Dermatology Clinic. This is a markedly increased incidence for the state of Minnesota. All of these cases have been found among recently arrived Southeast Asian refugees not noted to have their disease by previous screening examinations. The purpose of this study is to report these four cases (two tuberculoid, one lepromatous, and one borderline leprosy) and to review the Southeast Asian Refugee Resettlement Program, focusing on medical screening programs. We recommend refugee health education, health personnel training, and refugee medical screening centers as ways to detect leprosy among refugees entering the United States.