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Leprosy in East Asia

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Book cover Neglected Tropical Diseases - East Asia

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Abstract

The epidemiology of leprosy in East Asia has significantly changed over the past 100 years. There is interesting diversity between countries but the general trends have been similar. Over this period, the approach to leprosy control has changed from segregation to case detection and treatment with effective chemotherapy. The introduction of short course multidrug therapy in the 1980s and 1990s produced a dramatic fall in the number of patients registered for treatment of around 95%. Despite the introduction of effective chemotherapy, disability and discrimination due to leprosy remain a challenge often due to late diagnosis and complications of nerve injury. There has been no dramatic impact of chemotherapy on incidence of leprosy but there is a gradual decline in new case detection which in many countries predates the introduction of short course chemotherapy. This decline may be due to long term implementation of chemotherapy, either dapsone or multidrug therapy, use of BCG vaccine, and improving socio-economic circumstances. New targets, based on sero transmission, are now being pursued across East Asia based on novel approaches to new diagnostic tools and prophylaxis as well as early case finding and active contact management.

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Acknowledgement

Grateful thanks are due to Carole Vann of CIOMAL for contributing the section on Cambodia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK

    W. Cairns S. Smith

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  1. W. Cairns S. Smith
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Correspondence to W. Cairns S. Smith .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Jürg Utzinger

  2. Institute of Infectious Disease and Epidemiology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore, Singapore

    Peiling Yap

  3. Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Martin Bratschi

  4. Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Peter Steinmann

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Smith, W.C.S. (2019). Leprosy in East Asia. In: Utzinger, J., Yap, P., Bratschi, M., Steinmann, P. (eds) Neglected Tropical Diseases - East Asia. Neglected Tropical Diseases. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12008-5_3

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