Analysis on 286 Cases of Leprosy in Wuxi County

Objecfive This analysis was intended tO help understand the epidemic situation of lep-rosy and assess the effectiveness of prevention and treatment SO as to provide a scientific basis for the institution of rational countermeasures．Methods The diagnosis of leprosy was based on standards de-fined in the"Law of the People'S Republic of China on the Prevention and Treatment of Communica- ble Diseases”and manual of leprosy prevention and treatment in terms of case record registered in dept．Of chronic diseases of Wuxi leprosy hospiml and Wuxi Health and Anti-epidemic Station from 1953 to 2002．Results Leprosy onsets were primarily aggregated before 1992 which accounted for 96.15％of the total．Compared with 3.85％ between 1993 and 2002．The youngest was 4 years old and oldest 85 years with the peak of onset occurring among young adults aged between 20 and 39 years old．And a sex ratio of male to female of 3.45:1．Lepromatous leprosy was predominant，which ac- counted for 64.33％ of the total．And farmers ranked the first in the number of onsets，which accounted for 99.30％ of the total．Conclusion The prevalence of leprosy in Wuxi county is now in a descend-ing trend，but the management of communicable sources should be strengthened，given the fact that leprosy cases in this county are primarily generated by multiple bacterial types．