(LML) Revisiting primary neural leprosy: Clinical, serological, molecular, and neurophysiological aspects

Leprosy Mailing List – December 17,  2017

Ref.:  (LML)  Revisiting primary neural leprosy: Clinical, serological, molecular, and neurophysiological aspects

From:  José Antonio Garbino, Bauru, São Paulo, Brazil

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Dear Pieter,

 

Should you share in the LML this comprehensive and unambiguous article of Isabela´s Group from Uberlandia, Brazil:

"Revisiting primary neural leprosy: Clinical, serological, molecular, and neurophysiological aspects".

Author summary

The long incubation period, insidious symptoms and signs of leprosy produce difficulties in its diagnosis and correct clinical classification, especially in its primary neural form characterized by negative bacilloscopy and lack of cutaneous lesions. Despite significant progress in leprosy control in recent years, early identification of cases remains one of the primary goals of leprosy control programs. In addition, the failure of current therapeutic schemes on the incidence of leprosy shows that elimination of this disease, a public health problem, depends on incisive action to interrupt its transmission chain. Therefore, efforts must be focused on improving the leprosy diagnosis. However, because it is a primarily neural disease, the use of neurophysiological, serological and molecular methods in this group of patients may contribute not only to early diagnosis, but also to a correct classification and treatment, preventing sequelae and controlling outbreaks of infection. Therefore, in order to improve the leprosy elimination program in many countries, we propose the implementation of a combination of specific tools for detecting M. leprae and its neural impairment, which may further break down the transmission chain, enabling a more effective control of the disease.

The complete text is in this link:

http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0006086

 

Greetings from Bauru

 

Garbino

José Antonio Garbino, MD, PhD – Clinical Neurophysiology /ILSL

Co-ordinator  of the Clinical Neurophysiology Post-graduation Program

 

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LML - S Deepak, B Naafs, S Noto and P Schreuder

LML blog link: http://leprosymailinglist.blogspot.it/

Contact: Dr Pieter Schreuder << editorlml@gmail.com