Abstract
Introduction: Malaysia has achieved the leprosy elimination status declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) with the prevalence rate less than one per 10,000 population in 1994. Pahang reported the prevalence rate of leprosy (0.07 - 0.28 per 10,000 population) higher than national rate between 2014 and 2021. However, there are localities in Pahang with prevalence rate more than the elimination target (pocket of endemicity) and majority of them are Orang Asli settlements. These group of people are vulnerable to leprosy with higher incidence of leprosy were observed in the past decade.
Objectives: The aims of this study are to describe the characteristics of leprosy cases in Pahang and to identify the spatial distribution of the leprosy cases.
Methods: This is an observational study describing the distribution of leprosy cases among Orang Asli in Pahang between 2014 to 2021. We use database of leprosy cases registered in Ministry of Health e-Notification System and Leprosy Information System (MyKusta). Demographic data obtained from Family Health Development Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia. The clinical and epidemiological data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 25 and the geographic information system software QGIS 3.10.5 was used to draw the maps.
Results: There were 169 leprosy cases registered between 2014 and 2021 in Pahang of which 126 (74.6%) are Multibacillary and 43 (25.4%) are Paucibacillary. Age ranges from 6 to 82 years old (mean: 35.8). Male to female ratio is 2:1. Majority are Orang Asli (72.8%) followed by Malay (13.0%), and other ethnic groups. Among Orang Asli, 91 (74%) of cases from Jakun sub-ethnic followed by SemoqBeri (10.6%), Jahut (9.8%), Semelai (4.9%) and the least Bateq (0.8%). We found that Orang Asli get leprosy at younger age (?2 4.40, p 0.036, cOR 0.9, CI 95% 0.86-0.96) compared to non-Orang Asli group. There are no significant differences in gender and type of leprosy between Orang Asli and non-Orang Asli group. Chi square test reported no significant differences in age, gender and type of leprosy within different sub-ethnic group of Orang Asli. The spatial analysis shows that two southern districts in Pahang namely Pekan and Rompin have the highest burden of leprosy with number of cumulative cases of 51 and 47 respectively. Conclusions: Orang Asli in Pahang are the vulnerable group for leprosy transmission. They have higher risk to get leprosy at younger age group. Burden of leprosy among Orang Asli population raises the prioritization of health professionals' actions, systems, and services for control, and monitoring the disease to maintain the elimination status.
Links
- https://apcph.cphm.my/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/APCPH2022-P-69.pdf
- https://apcph.cphm.my/wp-content/uploads/wpforms/1176-1e04940bb5d885bf8711ed1909[...]
BibTeX (Download)
@proceedings{APCPH2022-P-69,
title = {Leprosy in Pahang: is it still a threat?},
author = {Ehmad Hamdi Naem and Mazlina Mohtar and Nur Aiza Zakaria and Edre Muhammad Aidid and Suzana Mohd Hashim},
url = {https://apcph.cphm.my/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/APCPH2022-P-69.pdf
https://apcph.cphm.my/wp-content/uploads/wpforms/1176-1e04940bb5d885bf8711ed19095a89ed/APCPH2022-P-69-b519f3c3cf5d07ff5d472c56158f29ec.pdf},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-08-02},
urldate = {2022-08-02},
issue = {7},
abstract = {Introduction: Malaysia has achieved the leprosy elimination status declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) with the prevalence rate less than one per 10,000 population in 1994. Pahang reported the prevalence rate of leprosy (0.07 - 0.28 per 10,000 population) higher than national rate between 2014 and 2021. However, there are localities in Pahang with prevalence rate more than the elimination target (pocket of endemicity) and majority of them are Orang Asli settlements. These group of people are vulnerable to leprosy with higher incidence of leprosy were observed in the past decade.
Objectives: The aims of this study are to describe the characteristics of leprosy cases in Pahang and to identify the spatial distribution of the leprosy cases.
Methods: This is an observational study describing the distribution of leprosy cases among Orang Asli in Pahang between 2014 to 2021. We use database of leprosy cases registered in Ministry of Health e-Notification System and Leprosy Information System (MyKusta). Demographic data obtained from Family Health Development Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia. The clinical and epidemiological data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 25 and the geographic information system software QGIS 3.10.5 was used to draw the maps.
Results: There were 169 leprosy cases registered between 2014 and 2021 in Pahang of which 126 (74.6%) are Multibacillary and 43 (25.4%) are Paucibacillary. Age ranges from 6 to 82 years old (mean: 35.8). Male to female ratio is 2:1. Majority are Orang Asli (72.8%) followed by Malay (13.0%), and other ethnic groups. Among Orang Asli, 91 (74%) of cases from Jakun sub-ethnic followed by SemoqBeri (10.6%), Jahut (9.8%), Semelai (4.9%) and the least Bateq (0.8%). We found that Orang Asli get leprosy at younger age (?2 4.40, p 0.036, cOR 0.9, CI 95% 0.86-0.96) compared to non-Orang Asli group. There are no significant differences in gender and type of leprosy between Orang Asli and non-Orang Asli group. Chi square test reported no significant differences in age, gender and type of leprosy within different sub-ethnic group of Orang Asli. The spatial analysis shows that two southern districts in Pahang namely Pekan and Rompin have the highest burden of leprosy with number of cumulative cases of 51 and 47 respectively. Conclusions: Orang Asli in Pahang are the vulnerable group for leprosy transmission. They have higher risk to get leprosy at younger age group. Burden of leprosy among Orang Asli population raises the prioritization of health professionals' actions, systems, and services for control, and monitoring the disease to maintain the elimination status.},
howpublished = {published online at https://apcph.cphm.my},
note = {Type: POSTER PRESENTATION; Organisation: Public Health Division, Pahang State Health Department; Department of Community Medicine, Kulliyyah of Medicine, International Islamic University Malaysia, Pahang},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {proceedings}
}