Childhood leprosy through the post-leprosy-elimination era: a retrospective analysis of epidemiological and clinical characteristics of disease over eleven years from a tertiary care hospital in North India

[[[ Background: ]]] Children are believed to be the most vulnerable group for leprosy and childhood leprosy reflects disease transmission in the community as well as the efficiency of ongoing disease control programmes. Objectives: To study the epidemiological and clinical trends of childhood cases of leprosy at a tertiary care hospital in North India during 2001-2011. [[[ Methods: ]]] A retrospective study was undertaken analysing the clinic records of children with leprosy less than or equal to 18 years registered at the leprosy clinic of this institute over an 11-year period. Demographic and disease characteristics including age, sex, history of contact, duration of disease, clinical pattern, bacteriological and histopathological parameters, reactions and disabilities were noted from a predesigned format. [[[ Results: ]]] A total of 1225 cases of leprosy were registered during this period, of whom 59 (4·81%) were children. The mean age of the patients was 10·06 ± 3·35 years with a male preponderance (3·9: 1). History of close contact with a leprosy case was present in 15 (25·4%) patients. Mean duration of illness before diagnosis was 18·5 months (range: 1-70 months). Borderline tuberculoid (BT) was the commonest clinical type in 40 children (67·8%), followed by lepromatous (LL) in 7 (11·9%), borderline lepromatous (BL) in 6 (10·1%), pure neuritic (PNL) in 2 (3·4%), tuberculoid (TT), mid-borderline (BB), histoid and indeterminate leprosy in 1 patient (1·7%) each. Lesions were located over upper extremity in 32 (54·2%), lower extremity in 29 ( 49·2% ), face in 27 ( 45·8%) and trunk in 26 ( 44·1%) patients. A single lesion was observed in 23 (39%), 2-5 lesions in 12 (20·3%) and more than five lesions in 22 (37·3%) children. The slit skin smear was positive in 17 (28·8%) patients. Lepra reactions were observed in 20 patients (33·9%), of whom 14 (70%) had Type 1, and six (30%) had Type 2 lepra reaction. Thickened peripheral nerve trunks were present in 48 (81·4%) children, of which, 27 (56-3%) had more than one thickened nerve and 21 (43·7%) had only a single nerve involved. Neuritis occurred in 9 (15·3%) and disability (both· grade 1 and 2) at the time of diagnosis was noted in 24 (40-7%) patients. Six (10·2%) children defaulted from treatment. Three cases (5·1%) of relapse were observed. [[[ Conclusions: ]]] Childhood leprosy cases and their complications continue to present in alarming numbers in India and this suggests possible gaps in the national programmes aimed at leprosy elimination. We stress the importance of continuous and sustained efforts for early case detection in the community in general, and close follow-up of susceptible children amongst household contacts of leprosy cases in the post-leprosy-elimination era.