Observational studyBMC infectious diseases2019
Clustering of leprosy beyond the household level in a highly endemic setting on the Comoros, an observational study.
Observational study in BMC infectious diseases, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- Measuring endemicity and burden of leprosy across countries and regions: A systematic review and Delphi survey.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Pooled it
- Detection of anti-M. leprae antibodies in children in leprosy-endemic areas: A systematic review.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Pooled it
- Accuracy of seven GPS-based geolocation techniquesBMJ open · 2026Article
- Article
- Geospatial tools in leprosy elimination: Enhancing precision in active case detection and resource allocation.PLOS digital health · 2025Article
- Leprosy.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2024Review
- Ticks are unlikely to play a role in leprosy transmission in the Comoros (East Africa) as they do not harbourFrontiers in medicine · 2023Article
- Implementation approaches for leprosy prevention with single-dose rifampicin: A support tool for decision making.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Review
- High yield of retrospective active case finding for leprosy in Comoros.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Article
- Spatio-temporal analysis of leprosy risks in a municipality in the state of Mato Grosso-Brazilian Amazon: results from the leprosy post-exposure prophylaxis program in Brazil.Infectious diseases of poverty · 2022Article
- Definition of 'close contacts' in leprosy studies: protocol for a scoping review.F1000Research · 2022Article
- Article
- Leprosy incidence and risk estimates in a 33-year contact cohort of leprosy patients.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Detection and Monitoring ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2021Article
- Leprosy surveillance study in a highly endemic Brazilian area using leprosy specific serologic tests and IFNγ whole blood assay.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2020Article
- Population Genomics ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2020Article
- Protocol, rationale and design of PEOPLE (Post ExpOsure Prophylaxis for LEprosy in the Comoros and Madagascar): a cluster randomized trial on effectiveness of different modalities of implementation of post-exposure prophylaxis of leprosy contacts.BMC infectious diseases · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe island of Anjouan (Comoros) is highly endemic for leprosy with an annual incidence of 5-10/10,000. In May/June, 2015 single-dose Rifampicin post-exposure prophylaxis (SDR-PEP) was administered to 269 close contacts of 70 leprosy-patients in four villages as a pilot programmatic intervention. Two years later we revisited the villages for follow-up investigations. The main aim of our study was to quantify spatial associations between reported leprosy cases before and after PEP implementation. A secondary aim was to assess the effect of this single round of SDR-PEP at the individual level.
methodsWe conducted door-to-door leprosy screening in all four villages in August/September, 2017. We screened all consenting individuals for leprosy and recorded geographic coordinates of their household. We also recorded whether they had received SDR-PEP and whether they had been diagnosed with leprosy, before or after the 2015 intervention. We fitted a Poisson model with leprosy as outcome and distance to the nearest pre-intervention case and SDR-PEP as predictors.
resultsDuring the survey we found 114 new cases among 5760 contacts screened (2.0% prevalence), in addition to the 39 cases detected in the two preceding years. We found statistically significant associations of incident leprosy with physical distance to index cases ranging from 2.4 (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.5-3.6) for household contacts to 1.8 (95% CI 1.3-2.5) for those living at 1-25 m, compared to individuals living at ≥75 m. The effect of SDR-PEP appeared protective but did not reach statistical significance due to the low numbers, with an incidence rate ratio (IRR) of 0.6 (95% CI 0.3-1.2) overall, and 0.5 (95% CI 0.2-1.3) when considering only household contacts.
conclusionsThis pilot demonstrated an increased risk of leprosy in contacts beyond the household, therefore a wider circle should be considered for chemoprophylaxis. Baseline surveys and extended contact definitions are essential for improving SDR-PEP effectiveness.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.