Lepromatous leprosy regarding a case diagnosed in Tierra del Fuego

Abstract

Leprosy is a chronic, endemic and ubiquitous infectious disease. In 2000, the World Health Organization declared the elimination of leprosy as a global public health problem. Although the prevalence has decreased drastically since the introduction of multidrug therapy, there are still a considerable number of cases appearing in central African countries, India, China and Brazil (1, 2, 3). In Argentina, there are 400 cases per year under treatment, and a geographic focus on provinces in the northeast, northwest and center of the country, which concentrate approximately 70% of the cases (4, 5). The importance of reporting this case in Tierra del Fuego is due to the fact that it is not an endemic area of leprosy and since it is not a public health problem, it is difficult to diagnose because physicians do not suspect it as a possible differential diagnosis within dermatoses (1).