Bekala Degefa, Reda Dawit Yihdego, Ali Musa Mohammed
Bulchana Health Center, Oromia, Ethiopia.
School of Medical Laboratory, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia.
Infect Drug Resist. 2021 Nov 3;14:4581-4589. doi: 10.2147/IDR.S339102. eCollection 2021.
Leprosy is one of the neglected tropical diseases that affect skin and peripheral nervous system often results in severe, lifelong disabilities and deformities. Even though multidrug therapy was in place for more than 30 years to treat and prevent leprosy worldwide including Ethiopia, its epidemiology is not well studied in the West Arsi zone.
The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of acid-fast bacilli (AFB) positivity rate and associated factors among leprosy suspected cases.
A health facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 422 leprosy suspected cases from August 2020 to December 2020. To detect AFB, skin slit specimens were collected and examined using the Ziehl-Neelsen staining technique. Socio-demographic and clinical data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24. Logistic regression was employed to determine predictors of AFB positivity rate.
Acid-fast bacilli were detected among 46 leprosy suspected cases which gives a prevalence of 10.9% with 95% CI (8.2‒15.6). Suspected leprosy cases with multibacillary type were 4 times more likely to be AFB positive (=0.021) than their counterparts. Study participants who had contact with known leprosy cases were 2 times more likely to be AFB positive ( = 0.032) and those with no formal education were 2 times more likely to be AFB positive ( = 0.03). Participants who had close contact with leprosy patients for ≥3 years were 8 times more likely to be AFB positive ( = 0.02).
This study revealed a high prevalence of AFB positivity rate in the era of multidrug therapy. Types of leprosy, close contact with known leprosy cases, educational status, and duration of closer contact with leprosy cases were significantly associated with AFB positivity rate.
麻风病是一种被忽视的热带疾病，会影响皮肤和周围神经系统，常导致严重的终身残疾和畸形。尽管全球包括埃塞俄比亚在内已实施多药疗法治疗和预防麻风病30多年，但西阿尔西地区对其流行病学的研究尚不充分。
本研究旨在确定麻风疑似病例中抗酸杆菌（AFB）阳性率及相关因素。
2020年8月至2020年12月，在422例麻风疑似病例中开展了一项基于医疗机构的横断面研究。为检测AFB，采集皮肤切口标本并采用齐-尼氏染色技术进行检查。使用结构化问卷收集社会人口学和临床数据。采用社会科学统计软件包（SPSS）24版进行数据分析。采用逻辑回归确定AFB阳性率的预测因素。
46例麻风疑似病例检测出抗酸杆菌，患病率为10.9%，95%置信区间为（8.2‒15.6）。多菌型疑似麻风病例AFB阳性的可能性是其他病例的4倍（P = 0.021）。与已知麻风病例有接触的研究参与者AFB阳性的可能性是其他参与者的2倍（P = 0.032），未接受正规教育的参与者AFB阳性的可能性是其他参与者的2倍（P = 0.03）。与麻风患者密切接触≥3年的参与者AFB阳性的可能性是其他参与者的8倍（P = 0.02）。
本研究显示，在多药疗法时代，AFB阳性率较高。麻风类型、与已知麻风病例的密切接触、教育程度以及与麻风病例的密切接触时长与AFB阳性率显著相关。
