background: although leprosy is an endemic disease in iran, it has been reduced rate over recent years. the present study has been conducted to investigate epidemiology of incident cases over last 6 years. methods: a descriptive study designed to investigate all reported cases of leprosy in kermanshah province from 2003-2008. data was collected from leprosy referral center in kermanshah. data w...

OBJECTIVES Type 2 lepra reaction is a Th2-mediated type III hypersensitivity reaction in leprosy, with a characteristic cutaneous manifestation in the form of erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL). We describe unusual presentations of Type 2 lepra reaction in five patients. METHODS Patient data and dermatological findings were analyzed in three men and two women diagnosed with Hansen's disease. R...

The polar typ es of leprosy, tuberculoid and lepromatous, are eharacteri zed by two dif-ferent and well-defin ed form s of cellular resp0l1se (~fi). Tubereuloicl les ions consist of circumscribed granulom as made up of epithelioid cells which contain few leprosy bacilli. Lepromatous lesions, in contrast, are composed of diffuse aggregates of foamy macrophages ( Virehow cells ) laden with large ...

OBJECTIVES To determine the frequency and factors associated with relapse in multibacillary leprosy. DESIGN We performed a retrospective cohort study on multibacillary leprosy patients treated at Centro Dermatologico Federico Lleras Acosta between January 1994 and December 2004. By survival analysis we studied the incidence density for recurrence and bacillary index conversion. The assessment...

UNLABELLED INTRODUCTION; Cutaneous leishmaniasis is endemic in Sri Lanka. The immunopathogenesis of these lesions in Sri Lankans has not been documented. OBJECTIVES To classify skin lesions into histological groups, to assess parasitic load, density of each inflammatory cell type and necrosis and to characterise the lymphocytic reaction in cutaneous leishmaniasis in comparison to leprosy. M...

PGL-I (phenolic glycolipid I) emerged in the early 1980s on the one hand as part of intensive efforts to define the typing antigens of a host of Mycobacterium spp. and also from characterisation of the lipids of skin biopsies from highly bacillary positive lepromatous leprosy patients. PGL-I, despite its extreme lipophilicity due to its inherent phthiocerol dimycocerosyl component, is highly an...

The immunology of leprosy is one of the most intriguing problems in disease processes ( 5. 10. 16. 19. 20. 21. 22). The forms in which leprosy may occur vary. The most important form, lepromatous leprosy, is characterized by a negative reaction to the leprous material injected into the skin. The opposite is true in the relatively more benign tuberculoid form of the disease. Between these two ar...

Histoid leprosy is extremely rare in children. Molluscum contagiosum-like lesions in the setting of histoid leprosy is a highly atypical presentation and may signify the process of "transepidermal elimination" in lesions with high bacillary load. A case of histoid leprosy with umbilicated papules and nodules mimicking molluscum contagiosum is reported in a 10-year-old Indian boy.