Leprosy Mailing List – Jamuary 28, 2023
Ref.: (LML) Teledermatology services
From: Joel Almeida, Mumbai, India
Dear Pieter and colleagues,
It is very heartening to see the spread of teledermatology services using smartphones. (eg in Indonesia, ref LML Virtual Photo Exhibition). This allows peripheral health workers to be supervised by experts as they examine patients with skin conditions. Without expertise, it is easy for the most highly bacillated HD patients to be missed, either before MDT or after MDT upon reinfection. That is because the most highly bacillated often show no skin patches.
With improved standards of skin examination, including pinching the skin to check for subtle induration, there is hope that the most highly bacillated patients will be recognised, treated and consequently unable to provide viable bacilli to children and others. Programmes that provide smear microscopy might find nasal smears thick with acid-fast bacilli even though the patient might not show any skin patches. While such patients remain unprotected against (re)infection, there is not much hope of stopping transmission.
A wider reach for expert services is critical for stopping HD transmission and caring for patients. Teledermatology & telemedicine of all sorts can help.
Best,
Joel Almeida
LML - S Deepak, B Naafs, S Noto and P Schreuder
LML blog link: http://leprosymailinglist.blogspot.it/
Contact: Dr Pieter Schreuder << editorlml@gmail.com
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