02059nas a2200205 4500000000100000008004100001260004600042653002400088653001600112100001300128700001000141700001100151700000900162700001100171245005500182856010600237490002700343520146900370022001401839 2022 d bOvid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)10aInfectious Diseases10aDermatology1 aJia-Yi P1 aSun P1 aWang L1 aYu M1 aWang H00aEpidemiological features of leprosy in China, 2020 uhttps://journals.lww.com/ijdv/Abstract/9900/Epidemiological_features_of_leprosy_in_China,_2020.7.aspx0 vPublish Ahead of Print3 a

Objective: 

To describe the epidemiological characteristics of leprosy in China in 2020 and provide a basis for optimizing leprosy prevention and control strategies.

Methods: 

We statistically analyzed the data of leprosy cases in China in 2020 extracted from the Leprosy Management Information System.

Results: 

A total of 406 newly detected leprosy cases were reported nationwide in China in 2020, giving an incidence rate of 0.29 per 1,000,000 population. Among the population with leprosy, the proportions of children younger than 15 years, multibacillary cases, and cases with grade 2 disability were 1.2%, 93.3%, and 17.7%, respectively. Southwest China was the region with the largest proportion of new leprosy cases (54.7%). There were 31 relapse leprosy cases reported in 2020. By the end of 2020, there were 1,893 registered leprosy cases reported nationwide, giving a prevalence rate of 1.35 per 1,000,000 population.

Conclusion: 

Leprosy is at a low endemic level in China in terms of the prevalence and incidence rates. However, the geographical distribution of leprosy in China is unbalanced; leprosy is highly endemic in southwest China, including Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Guangdong, and Guangxi.

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