01924nas a2200241   4500000000100000008004100001260001200042653001000054653001700064653001200081653002500093100001200118700000900130700000900139700001000148700001100158245012000169856008900289300000900378490000700387520127400394022001401668       2020                            d  c11/202010aChina10aEpidemiology10aleprosy10aMycobacterium leprae1 aZhang Q1 aLi G1 aLi C1 aLin Z1 aChen P00aEpidemiological situation of leprosy in a province in China: a long time to diagnosis and a high rate of deformity.  uhttps://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-020-09933-6#citeas  a17900 v203 a<p><b>BACKGROUND: </b>This epidemiological study aimed to analyse both the distribution and characteristics of leprosy in an endemic province in Northwest China.</p><p><b>METHODS: </b>The medical records of leprosy patients in the province of Shaanxi, China, from 1998 to 2018 were collected from the Chinese Leprosy Management Information System (LEPMIS). Epidemiological variables were analysed in this study.</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>A total of 477 new cases were diagnosed between 1998 and 2018 in this region. The average annual detection rate was 0.070/100,000 population, and the average annual prevalence was 0.305/100,000 population. The mean age of the newly diagnosed patients was 46.7 years, and the ratio of males to females was 2.5:1. There were 399 cases (83.6%) of multibacillary (MB) leprosy. One hundred forty-eight patients (31.0%) had grade 2 disability. The mean diagnosis time for new cases was 62.0 months.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION: </b>This epidemiological study showed that the characteristics of newly diagnosed leprosy cases in our province were a long time to diagnosis and a high rate of deformity, indicating the need for actions focusing on early diagnosis and treatment and strengthening the detection of leprosy in low-prevalence areas.</p>  a1471-2458