Leprosy and syphilis cases are on the rise in some communities. Leprosy or Hansen disease is a neglected disease, classified by the World Health Organization as multibacillary or paucibacillary. It displays a wide spectrum of clinical phenotypes primarily involving the skin and peripheral nerves, ranging from macular lesions to disabling and mutilating disease. Its etiological agents are Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis, which are obligate intracellular acid-fast bacilli. On the other hand, syphilis is a multistage chronic infection characterized by a long latent period following the initial symptomatic stages.
An accurate diagnosis is essential, especially in tropical and subtropical contexts where multiple challenging and coexisting diagnosis should also be considered. Here, we describe the case of a woman with a chronic nodular dermatosis initially attributed to secondary syphilis but in whom a diagnosis of multibacillary leprosy coinfected with latent syphilis was established.
a2352-5126