Leprosy: an uncommon infection with varied presentations

van Hal, Sebastiaan J; Hudson, Bernard J

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To the Editor: Leprosy rates in Australia are low (less than one case per million population)1 and predominantly occur in Indigenous Australians and immigrants from leprosy-endemic areas.2

Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, NSW.

Correspondence: vanhal@iprimus.com.au

1. Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. Communicable diseases data. Available at: http://www9.health.gov.au/cda/Source/CDA-index.cfm (accessed Mar 2006).
2. Mak DB, Platt EM, Heath CH. Leprosy transmission in the Kimberley, Western Australia: still a reality in 21st-century Australia [letter]. Med J Aust 2003; 179: 452. <MJA full text>
3. Jacobson RR, Krahenbuhl JL. Leprosy. Lancet 1999; 353: 655-660.
4. Manandhar R, LeMaster JW, Roche PW. Risk factors for erythema nodosum leprosum. Int J Lepr Other Mycobact Dis 1999; 67: 270-278.
5. Britton WJ, Lockwood DN. Leprosy. Lancet 2004; 363: 1209-1219.
6. Lockwood DN, Sinha HH. Pregnancy and leprosy: a comprehensive literature review. Int J Lepr Other Mycobact Dis 1999; 67: 6-12.
7. Lockwood DN, Reid AJ. The diagnosis of leprosy is delayed in the United Kingdom. QJM 2001; 94: 207-212.

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