Investigating the Spread of Leprosy Using Secondary Data in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia

Abstract

Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae. This disease attacks the skin, peripheral nerves, upper respiratory tract mucosa and eyes. This bacterium undergoes a long division process between 2-3 weeks. The survival of leprosy bacteria is 9 days outside the human body. Leprosy germs have an incubation period of 2-5 years. The World Health Organization reported that in 2019, 202,256 new cases of leprosy were detected in 118 countries, and that 79% of these were in India and Brazil. This study obtained data on leprosy from the Kendari City Health Office for 2017 to 2020. According to the findings, in 2018, the prevalence of leprosy in Kendari was 0.73%. The span was found to be 15 years with multi-bacillary type/wet leprosy with level 0 defects. Males were found to be the most susceptible to infection. There was a decrease in 2020 in the number of new cases of leprosy.
 Keywords: leprosy, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia