ACTIVE SURVEILLANCE IN LEPROSY - HOW USEFUL IS IT

In this paper, active surveillance is compared with self-reporting as a method of detecting new nerve function loss in leprosy patients who have completed multidrug therapy (MDT). Five hundred and three patient s were selected according to new surveillance guidelines in one part o f the Danish-Bangladesh Leprosy Mission leprosy control project workin g area. Surveillance coverage of 71% was achieved in a 7-month period. During this time, 10 released-from-treatment (RFT) patients from amon g the study group were found to have acute nerve damage requiring pred nisolone treatment. Out of the 10, only 2 were detected actively; the remaining 8 self-reported. It is concluded that health education given at RFT time is effective in motivating patients to self-report with a cute nerve damage, and that the time spent on active surveillance coul d have been better used in other activities, i.e., case detection. As a result of these findings, active surveillance has been abandoned in the leprosy control project.