Contribution of mini-LECS to cluster approach case finding in Kaduna State, Nigeria.

Mini-leprosy elimination campaigns (Mini-LECs) were carried out over a period of 5 years (2000-2004) in Kaduna State, Nigeria. After careful preparation, the campaign team visited areas with a high suspicion of hidden cases in 12 selected Local Government Areas (LGAs). During the years of the 12 campaigns, 156 new cases of leprosy were detected against an expected number of 70 within the same LGAs. The results of the mini-LECs were analysed to find out if this cluster approach contributed significantly to the overall leprosy case finding and change in the proportion of the multi-bacillary (MB) forms of leprosy among new cases in the State. The analysis shows that, at LGA level, the number of cases detected during the year of mini-LEC is statistically higher then the expected number of cases. The MB proportion at LGA level did not change due to the mini-LEC exercises. Due to the limited number of exercises, the impact at state level is insignificant. However, the experience at LGA level suggests that with an increase in number of mini-LEC campaigns per state per annum an impact at the state indicators can be expected. In addition the campaigns should be repeated for further yield of new leprosy cases.