Biological
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Statutory Notifications of Infectious Diseases reported in Ireland
via the Computerised Infectious Disease Reporting (CIDR)
system for: Week 31, 2013
(Notification Period: 28/07/2013 - 03/08/2013)
http://www.hpsc.ie/hpsc/NotifiableDiseases/WeeklyIDReports/File,1425,en.pdf
Notifiable Diseases and their respective causative pathogens
Disease Causative Pathogen Data available on CIDR since
Leprosy Mycobacterium leprae Jan 2012
2013 weeks 1-31
Cases =2
2012 Case Definition:
Leprosy
(Mycobacterium leprae)
Clinical criteria
Any person with the following clinical picture: leprosy is a chronic bacterial disease
characterised by the involvement primarily of skin as well as peripheral nerves and
the mucosa of the upper airways. Clinical forms of leprosy represent a spectrum
reflecting the cellular immune response to Mycobacterium leprae. The clinical
manifestations of the disease vary in a continuous spectrum between the two polar
forms, lepromatous and tuberculoid leprosy:
- In lepromatous (multibacillary) leprosy, nodules, papules, macules and diffuse
infiltrations are bilateral symmetrical and usually numerous and extensive;
involvement of the nasal mucosa may lead to crusting, obstructed breathing
and epistaxis; ocular involvement leads to iritis and keratitis
- In tuberculoid (paucibacillary) leprosy, skin lesions are single or few, sharply
demarcated, anaesthesic or hypoaesthesic, and bilateral asymmetrical;
involvement of peripheral nerves tends to be severe
- Borderline leprosy has features of both polar forms and is more labile
- Indeterminate leprosy is characterised by hypopigmented macules with illdefined
borders; if untreated, it may progress to tuberculoid, borderline or
lepromatous disease
Laboratory criteria
At least one of the following two:
- Demonstration of characteristic acid-fast bacilli in skin or dermal nerve,
obtained from either a punch biopsy or a slit skin biopsy of a lepromatous
lesion (depending on the clinical presentation). The identity of Mycobacterium
leprae can be confirmed by nucleic acid amplification tests.
- Histopathological report from skin or nerve biopsy compatible with leprosy
(Hansen’s disease) examined by a consultant pathologist experienced in
leprosy diagnosis.
Epidemiological criteria
NA
Case classification
A. Possible case
NA
B. Probable case
NA
C. Confirmed case
Any person meeting the clinical and the laboratory criteria
http://www.hpsc.ie/hpsc/NotifiableDiseases/CaseDefinitions/File,823,en.pdf
Ireland records first known case of leprosy in decades • TheJournal.ie
Updated, 17:40
THE HSE HAS confirmed Ireland’s first known case of leprosy for several decades.
The agency has confirmed that a case was reported to its Health Protection Surveillance Centre by the HSE’s Dublin North East division earlier this year.
The victim is a man who is believed to have contracted the disease outside of Ireland. It is thought he had suffered from the condition in the past and that the latest episode was a recurrence of this.
IrishHealth.com, reporting on the development, said it understood the victim to be a native of South America aged in his 30s.
The HSE said the man had been treated in hospital in Dublin, and that there was no cause for public concern, as the condition is not highly contagious.
The bacterium that causes the condition multiplies so slowly that the first symptoms can often only appear around five years – and sometimes up to 20 years – after a person first comes into contact with it.
The disease is transmitted by small droplets from the mouth and nose “during close and frequent contacts with untreated cases”, the HSE said – adding that it can be cured, and early treatment can prevent disability or any other long-term health concerns.
While the condition is relatively common in the developing world, new cases are exceptionally rare in this part of the world – and it is not known when the last case was formally recorded in Ireland.
HSE data suggests no cases were officially reported between 1981 and 2012.
Contrary to popular conception, the disease does not result in the loss of body parts, and mainly affects the skin and outer nerves. However, in secondary cases, fingers and toes can shorten and eventually reform.
http://www.news.msn.ie/leprosy-case-ireland-941374-Jun2013/
Second case of leprosy reported in Ireland
A male foreign national had a occurrence of the disease which he had contracted in a foreign country and has been treated in a north-east hospital.
AP Photo Tatan Syuflana
A leprosy hospital in Indonesia
JUST TWO MONTHS after Ireland recorded the first case of leprosy in the country for decades, a second case has been confirmed.
The second incident occurred in the north-east of the country, the same area as the first and the HSE was notified of the case in June. The HSE has confirmed the case and it is believed that, as with the earlier case, the patient was a male foreign national who had contracted the disease abroad.
“This case was notified to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre by the HSE North East in June 2013. The individual had a recurrence of leprosy which the individual had contracted in another country. He did not acquire Leprosy in Ireland,” a HSE spokesperson told TheJournal.ie.
The HSE could not confirm what strain of leprosy the patient was suffering from, citing data protection concerns. The executive has stressed that the disease in not highly infectious.
It is transmitted by small droplets from the mouth and nose that are spread through frequent contact at close quarters. It’s symptoms often only show up to five years after initial contact.
Early intervention can prevent any disability and it does not cause the loss of limbs. Extremities can shorten and reform, however.
Before the case earlier this year, no formal records could identify the last case of leprosy in Ireland, though the disease is prevalent in developing countries.
http://t.news.ie.msn.com/ireland/second-case-of-leprosy-reported-in-ireland
via the Computerised Infectious Disease Reporting (CIDR)
system for: Week 31, 2013
(Notification Period: 28/07/2013 - 03/08/2013)
http://www.hpsc.ie/hpsc/NotifiableDiseases/WeeklyIDReports/File,1425,en.pdf
Notifiable Diseases and their respective causative pathogens
Disease Causative Pathogen Data available on CIDR since
Leprosy Mycobacterium leprae Jan 2012
2013 weeks 1-31
Cases =2
2012 Case Definition:
Leprosy
(Mycobacterium leprae)
Clinical criteria
Any person with the following clinical picture: leprosy is a chronic bacterial disease
characterised by the involvement primarily of skin as well as peripheral nerves and
the mucosa of the upper airways. Clinical forms of leprosy represent a spectrum
reflecting the cellular immune response to Mycobacterium leprae. The clinical
manifestations of the disease vary in a continuous spectrum between the two polar
forms, lepromatous and tuberculoid leprosy:
- In lepromatous (multibacillary) leprosy, nodules, papules, macules and diffuse
infiltrations are bilateral symmetrical and usually numerous and extensive;
involvement of the nasal mucosa may lead to crusting, obstructed breathing
and epistaxis; ocular involvement leads to iritis and keratitis
- In tuberculoid (paucibacillary) leprosy, skin lesions are single or few, sharply
demarcated, anaesthesic or hypoaesthesic, and bilateral asymmetrical;
involvement of peripheral nerves tends to be severe
- Borderline leprosy has features of both polar forms and is more labile
- Indeterminate leprosy is characterised by hypopigmented macules with illdefined
borders; if untreated, it may progress to tuberculoid, borderline or
lepromatous disease
Laboratory criteria
At least one of the following two:
- Demonstration of characteristic acid-fast bacilli in skin or dermal nerve,
obtained from either a punch biopsy or a slit skin biopsy of a lepromatous
lesion (depending on the clinical presentation). The identity of Mycobacterium
leprae can be confirmed by nucleic acid amplification tests.
- Histopathological report from skin or nerve biopsy compatible with leprosy
(Hansen’s disease) examined by a consultant pathologist experienced in
leprosy diagnosis.
Epidemiological criteria
NA
Case classification
A. Possible case
NA
B. Probable case
NA
C. Confirmed case
Any person meeting the clinical and the laboratory criteria
http://www.hpsc.ie/hpsc/NotifiableDiseases/CaseDefinitions/File,823,en.pdf
Ireland records first known case of leprosy in decades • TheJournal.ie
Updated, 17:40
THE HSE HAS confirmed Ireland’s first known case of leprosy for several decades.
The agency has confirmed that a case was reported to its Health Protection Surveillance Centre by the HSE’s Dublin North East division earlier this year.
The victim is a man who is believed to have contracted the disease outside of Ireland. It is thought he had suffered from the condition in the past and that the latest episode was a recurrence of this.
IrishHealth.com, reporting on the development, said it understood the victim to be a native of South America aged in his 30s.
The HSE said the man had been treated in hospital in Dublin, and that there was no cause for public concern, as the condition is not highly contagious.
The bacterium that causes the condition multiplies so slowly that the first symptoms can often only appear around five years – and sometimes up to 20 years – after a person first comes into contact with it.
The disease is transmitted by small droplets from the mouth and nose “during close and frequent contacts with untreated cases”, the HSE said – adding that it can be cured, and early treatment can prevent disability or any other long-term health concerns.
While the condition is relatively common in the developing world, new cases are exceptionally rare in this part of the world – and it is not known when the last case was formally recorded in Ireland.
HSE data suggests no cases were officially reported between 1981 and 2012.
Contrary to popular conception, the disease does not result in the loss of body parts, and mainly affects the skin and outer nerves. However, in secondary cases, fingers and toes can shorten and eventually reform.
http://www.news.msn.ie/leprosy-case-ireland-941374-Jun2013/
Second case of leprosy reported in Ireland
A male foreign national had a occurrence of the disease which he had contracted in a foreign country and has been treated in a north-east hospital.
AP Photo Tatan Syuflana
A leprosy hospital in Indonesia
JUST TWO MONTHS after Ireland recorded the first case of leprosy in the country for decades, a second case has been confirmed.
The second incident occurred in the north-east of the country, the same area as the first and the HSE was notified of the case in June. The HSE has confirmed the case and it is believed that, as with the earlier case, the patient was a male foreign national who had contracted the disease abroad.
“This case was notified to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre by the HSE North East in June 2013. The individual had a recurrence of leprosy which the individual had contracted in another country. He did not acquire Leprosy in Ireland,” a HSE spokesperson told TheJournal.ie.
The HSE could not confirm what strain of leprosy the patient was suffering from, citing data protection concerns. The executive has stressed that the disease in not highly infectious.
It is transmitted by small droplets from the mouth and nose that are spread through frequent contact at close quarters. It’s symptoms often only show up to five years after initial contact.
Early intervention can prevent any disability and it does not cause the loss of limbs. Extremities can shorten and reform, however.
Before the case earlier this year, no formal records could identify the last case of leprosy in Ireland, though the disease is prevalent in developing countries.
http://t.news.ie.msn.com/ireland/second-case-of-leprosy-reported-in-ireland