Indeterminate leprosy and lepromatous index case: four cases in the same family

Abstract

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, which primarily affects the skin and peripheral nerves. Brazil remains as the country with the second largest number of cases in the world. We report the case of three patients diagnosed with indeterminate leprosy in the same family. Two patients were HIV positive. An active search led to the discovery of the index case. It was crucial to persist in the search of the index case. This report shows how important it is to teach physicians and the general population about the signs and symptoms of leprosy. Early diagnosis and treatment are necessary to prevent sequelae and to eliminate the disease as a public health problem.

Caracterização da resposta imune in situ nas lesões de hanseníase indeterminada

“…A pesquisa de BAAR pode ser negativa ou positiva 12,47 .A hanseníase indeterminada exibe infiltrado inflamatório não granulomatoso, de leve intensidade, composto por linfócitos e histiócitos, que se dispõem ao redor de vasos e principalmente de anexos e nervos (peri ou intra-neural). Em 25% a 100% dos casos se encontra o bacilo no infiltrado perineural, músculos pilo-eretores, nervo, zona subepidérmica e dentro de histiócitos1,8,37,35,49,50 . A sensibilidade de detecção do bacilo aumenta conforme aumenta o número de cortes examinados35,50 .…”