TY - JOUR
T1 - Leprosy in refugees and migrants in Italy and a literature review of cases reported in europe between 2009 and 2018
AU - Beltrame, Anna
AU - Barabino, Gianfranco
AU - Wei, Yiran
AU - Clapasson, Andrea
AU - Orza, Pierantonio
AU - Perandin, Francesca
AU - Piubelli, Chiara
AU - Monteiro, Geraldo Badona
AU - Longoni, Silvia Stefania
AU - Rodari, Paola
AU - Duranti, Silvia
AU - Silva, Ronaldo
AU - Fittipaldo, Veronica Andrea
AU - Bisoffi, Zeno
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This work was supported by the Italian Ministry of Health Fondi Ricerca Corrente - L3P1 to I.R.C.C.S. Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/8
Y1 - 2020/8
N2 - Leprosy is a chronic neglected infectious disease that affects over 200,000 people each year and causes disabilities in more than four million people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The disease can appear with a wide spectrum of clinical forms, and therefore the clinical suspicion is often difficult. Refugees and migrants from endemic countries affected by leprosy can remain undiagnosed in Europe due to the unpreparedness of clinicians. We retrospectively describe the characteristics of 55 refugees/migrants with a diagnosis of leprosy established in Italy from 2009 to 2018. Continents of origin were Africa (42%), Asia (40%), and South and Central America (18%). The symptoms reported were skin lesions (91%), neuropathy (71%), edema (7%), eye involvement (6%), fever (6%), arthritis (4%), and lymphadenopathy (4%). Seven patients (13%) had irreversible complications. Overall, 35% were relapses and 66% multibacillary leprosy. Furthermore, we conducted a review of 17 case reports or case series and five nationwide reports, published in the same decade, describing 280 migrant patients with leprosy in Europe. In Europe, leprosy is a rare chronic infectious disease, but it has not completely disappeared. Diagnosis and treatment of leprosy in refugees and migrants from endemic countries are a challenge. European guidelines for this neglected disease in this high-risk population would be beneficial.
AB - Leprosy is a chronic neglected infectious disease that affects over 200,000 people each year and causes disabilities in more than four million people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The disease can appear with a wide spectrum of clinical forms, and therefore the clinical suspicion is often difficult. Refugees and migrants from endemic countries affected by leprosy can remain undiagnosed in Europe due to the unpreparedness of clinicians. We retrospectively describe the characteristics of 55 refugees/migrants with a diagnosis of leprosy established in Italy from 2009 to 2018. Continents of origin were Africa (42%), Asia (40%), and South and Central America (18%). The symptoms reported were skin lesions (91%), neuropathy (71%), edema (7%), eye involvement (6%), fever (6%), arthritis (4%), and lymphadenopathy (4%). Seven patients (13%) had irreversible complications. Overall, 35% were relapses and 66% multibacillary leprosy. Furthermore, we conducted a review of 17 case reports or case series and five nationwide reports, published in the same decade, describing 280 migrant patients with leprosy in Europe. In Europe, leprosy is a rare chronic infectious disease, but it has not completely disappeared. Diagnosis and treatment of leprosy in refugees and migrants from endemic countries are a challenge. European guidelines for this neglected disease in this high-risk population would be beneficial.
KW - Europe
KW - Italy
KW - Leprosy
KW - Migrants
KW - Mycobacterium leprae
KW - Mycobacterium lepromatosis
KW - Refugees
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U2 - 10.3390/microorganisms8081113
DO - 10.3390/microorganisms8081113
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85088576912
VL - 8
SP - 1
EP - 16
JO - Microorganisms
JF - Microorganisms
SN - 2076-2607
IS - 8
M1 - 1113
ER -