ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2021
Undernutrition, food insecurity, and leprosy in North Gondar Zone, Ethiopia: A case-control study to identify infection risk factors associated with poverty.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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10 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Associated Factors of Mycobacterium Leprae Infection among People with Leprosy in Kwale County.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Determinants of leprosy among patients visiting Sheshamane comprehensive specialized hospital, West Arsi zone, oromia region, ethiopia: a case-control study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Participatory construction of an assistive technology for leprosy contact surveillance.Revista brasileira de enfermagem · 2025Article
- High-Resolution Plasma Metabolomics Identifies Alterations in Fatty Acid, Energy, and Micronutrient Metabolism in Adults Across the Leprosy Spectrum.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Spatiotemporal pattern of leprosy in southwest China from 2010 to 2020: an ecological study.BMC public health · 2024Observational
- Iron and vitamin D intake on a diet are able to modify the in vitro immune response to Mycobacterium leprae.Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz · 2024Article
- The economic burden of leprosy treatment to households in Ghana: A cross-sectional study in the Volta Region of Ghana.SAGE open medicine · 2024Article
- Food Insecurity among International Migrants during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Epidemiology and grade 2 disability of leprosy among migrant and resident patients in Guangdong: an unignorable continued transmission of leprosy.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Leptin Deficiency May Influence the Divergence of Cell-Mediated Immunity Between Lepromatous and Tuberculoid Leprosy Patients.Journal of inflammation research · 2022Review
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEthiopia has over 3,200 new cases of leprosy diagnosed every year. Prevention remains a challenge as transmission pathways are poorly understood. Susceptibility and disease manifestations are highly dependent on individual host-immune response. Nutritional deficiencies, such as protein-energy malnutrition, have been linked to reduced cell-mediated immunity, which in the case of leprosy, could lead to a higher chance of active leprosy and thus an increased reservoir of transmissible infection. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
findingsBetween June and August 2018, recently diagnosed patients with leprosy and individuals without known contact with cases were enrolled as controls in North Gondar regional health centers. Participants answered survey questions on biometric data, demographics, socioeconomic situation, and dietary habits. Descriptive statistics, univariate, and multivariate logisitic regression examined associations between undernutrition, specifically body mass index (BMI), middle upper arm circumference (MUAC), and leprosy. Eighty-one participants (40 cases of leprosy, 41 controls) were enrolled (75% male) with an average age of 38.6 years (SD 18.3). The majority of cases were multibacillary (MB) (90%). There was a high prevalence of undernutrition with 24 (29.6%) participants underweight (BMI <18.5) and 17 (21%) having a low MUAC. On multivariate analysis, underweight was significantly associated with leprosy (aOR = 9.25, 95% CI 2.77, 30.81). Also found to be associated with leprosy was cutting the size of meals/skipping meals (OR = 2.9, 95% CI 1.0, 8.32) or not having enough money for food (OR = 10, 95% CI 3.44 29.06). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The results suggest a strong association between leprosy and undernutrition, while also supporting the framework that food insecurity may lead to undernutrition that then could increase susceptibility to leprosy. In conclusion, this study highlights the need to study the interplay of undernutrition, food insecurity, and the manifestations of leprosy.
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