Leprosy surveys in urban slums - possibilities for epidemiological investigations

Abstract

Rapid industralization and a population explosion in urban areas like Bombay have promoted the growth of a large number of slums where some 40% of the city's population is living in an overcrowded, unhygienic environment. This has led to many acute and chronic public health problems, one of the gravest of which is leprosy. Intensive surveys of 8 slums, in which 31,950 subjects were screened for leprosy, revealed a range of prevalence between 5.9 and 22.8/1,000 with an average rate of 11.9/1,000, thus indicating slums as hyperendemic foci. The average smear-positive case prevalence rate was 1.1/1,000 and this shows a high quantum of infection in the slum communities. Contrary to general belief, these urban slums are stable in nature, housing a population coming from different parts of India. Various epidemiological investigations relating to leprosy under urban conditions therefore seem to be possible if our experience is indicative.