Comorbidity leprosy and tuberculosis: With reference to six cases

Abstract

Purpose: Report six cases of Leprosy and Tuberculosis Co-infection.Procedure: This was a series of retrospective cross-sectional descriptive carried out at the Hospital Center of the Order of

Malta in Dakar (Senegal) over a period of 15 years (2001-2016).Results: Six cases were studied. The mean age of the patients was 29 years ± 10.4 [15-42 years] with a sex ratio H / F of 2 (4 men for 2 women). Four patients had lepromatous leprosy and two had borderline leprosy (lepromatous boderline).The median time to progression between tuberculosis and leprosy was 32 months [5 months-48 months]. The forms of tuberculosis found were purely pulmonary forms in 4 cases and multifocal (pleural and ganglionic, pleural then neurological) in 2 cases. The risk factors for the occurrence of tuberculosis were long-term systemic steroids, malnutrition, anemia, smoking and pregnancy. HIV antiretroviral serology was negative in all patients. The treatment of leprosy and tuberculosis was prescribed according to WHO protocols. All patients were declared cured of leprosy and tuberculosis. Conclusion: the occurrence of leprosy in its multibacillary form on a deficit immune field could favor either the reactivation of an underlying latent tuberculosis or a superinfection of leprosy by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It therefore seems important to actively search for tuberculosis during the screening of leprosy patients, especially lepromatous patients.