Pattern of leprosy in a city hospital.

A total of 1327 leprosy patients attending one of the leading Delhi hospitals from 1977 to 1982 were reviewed. Leprosy, as such, is not a prominent disease in Delhi, but an influx of patients from the adjoining endemic states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar has created a challenge because of increased construction activities for the Asiad '82. A relatively large number of patients were recorded during 1980. Most of the patients were unskilled workers. The usual preponderance of males over females was fairly explicit. Patients of low socioeconomic status were seen more frequently than those of higher socioeconomic status. The disease was found in the age group of 20-30 years and, in most cases, the age at onset was between 20-29 years. Infectious cases belonging to the borderline-to-lepromatous (BB-BL-LL) groups were reported more frequently than tuberculoid (TT-BT) cases. A suggestion is made to incorporate neuritic and indeterminate cases in the five-group classification in order to cover the total spectrum of the disease.