Editing Leprosy (section)

== Epidemiology ==
{{Main|Epidemiology of leprosy}}
[[File:Leprosy new case detection 2016 rates, 2016 (cropped).png|alt=|upright=1.8|thumb|New cases of leprosy in 2016<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = | title = Global leprosy update, 2016: accelerating reduction of disease burden | journal = Weekly Epidemiological Record | volume = 92 | issue = 35 | pages = 501–519 | date = September 2017 | pmid = 28861986 | hdl-access = free | hdl = 10665/258841 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Leprosy new case detection rates, 2016 |url=http://gamapserver.who.int/mapLibrary/Files/Maps/Leprosy_DR_2016.png |publisher=[[World Health Organization]] (WHO) |access-date=19 December 2019 |archive-date=19 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219151719/http://gamapserver.who.int/mapLibrary/Files/Maps/Leprosy_DR_2016.png |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
[[File:Leprosy world map - DALY - WHO2004.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[Disability-adjusted life year]] for leprosy per 100,000&nbsp;inhabitants in 2004<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/entity/healthinfo/statistics/bodgbddeathdalyestimates.xls |title=Mortality and Burden of Disease Estimates for WHO Member States in 2002 |format=xls |publisher=[[World Health Organization]] (WHO) |year=2002 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116174540/http://www.who.int/healthinfo/statistics/bodgbddeathdalyestimates.xls |archive-date=16 January 2013 }}</ref>
{{Colbegin}}
{{Div col|small=yes|colwidth=10em}}
{{legend|#b3b3b3|No data}}
{{legend|#ffff65|<&nbsp;1.5}}
{{legend|#fff200|1.5–3}}
{{legend|#ffdc00|3–4.5}}
{{legend|#ffc600|4.5–6}}
{{legend|#ffb000|6–7.5}}
{{legend|#ff9a00|7.5–9}}
{{legend|#ff8400|9–10.5}}
{{legend|#ff6e00|10.5–12}}
{{legend|#ff5800|12–13.5}}
{{legend|#ff4200|13.5–15}}
{{legend|#ff2c00|15–20}}
{{legend|#cb0000|>&nbsp;20}}
{{div col end}}
{{colend}}
]]

In 2018, there were 208,619 new cases of leprosy recorded, a slight decrease from 2017.<ref>{{cite web |title=WHO {{!}} Leprosy: new data show steady decline in new cases |url=https://www.who.int/neglected_diseases/news/Leprosy-new-data-show-steady-decline-in-new-cases/en/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022195923/https://www.who.int/neglected_diseases/news/Leprosy-new-data-show-steady-decline-in-new-cases/en/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 October 2019 |website=WHO |access-date=26 February 2020}}</ref> In 2015, 94% of the new leprosy cases were confined to 14 countries.<ref name="World Health Organization (WHO)">{{Cite web|url=https://www.who.int/lep/resources/who_wer9135/en/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018145241/http://www.who.int/lep/resources/who_wer9135/en/|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 October 2016|title=WHO {{!}} Global leprosy update, 2015: time for action, accountability and inclusion|publisher=[[World Health Organization]] (WHO)|access-date=14 January 2019}}</ref> India reported the greatest number of new cases (60% of reported cases), followed by Brazil (13%) and [[Indonesia]] (8%).<ref name="World Health Organization (WHO)" /> Although the number of cases worldwide continues to fall, there are parts of the world where leprosy is more common, including Brazil, South Asia (India, Nepal, Bhutan), some parts of Africa (Tanzania, Madagascar, Mozambique), and the western Pacific.<ref name="World Health Organization (WHO)" /> About 150 to 250 cases are diagnosed in the United States each year.<ref>{{cite web|title=Leprosy still lurks in United States, study says|author=Maggie Veatch|website=CNN|date=21 February 2019|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/21/health/leprosy-cases-study/index.html|access-date=24 February 2019|archive-date=20 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820134443/https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/21/health/leprosy-cases-study/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the 1960s, there were tens of millions of leprosy cases recorded when the bacteria started to develop resistance to [[dapsone]], the most common treatment option at the time.<ref name="WHO Fact Sheet" /><ref name="Rod2011" /> International (e.g., the [[World Health Organization|WHO]]'s "Global Strategy for Reducing Disease Burden Due to Leprosy" and the [[List of leprosy associations|International Federation of Anti-Leprosy Associations]]) and national initiatives have reduced the total number and the number of new cases of the disease.<ref name="Rod2011" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ilep.org.uk/about-ilep/ |title=About ILEP |publisher=ILEP |access-date=25 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812170909/http://www.ilep.org.uk/about-ilep/ |archive-date=12 August 2014 }}</ref>

The number of new leprosy cases is difficult to measure and monitor because of leprosy's long incubation period, delays in diagnosis after the onset of the disease, and lack of medical care in affected areas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.internationaltextbookofleprosy.org/chapter/epidemiology-leprosy|title=Epidemiology of Leprosy|date=11 February 2016|website=International Textbook of Leprosy|access-date=23 July 2019|archive-date=23 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723224457/https://www.internationaltextbookofleprosy.org/chapter/epidemiology-leprosy|url-status=live}}</ref> The registered [[prevalence]] of the disease is used to determine [[disease burden]].<ref name="WHO_1985" /> Registered prevalence is a useful proxy indicator of the disease burden, as it reflects the number of active leprosy cases diagnosed with the disease and receiving treatment with MDT at a given point in time.<ref name="WHO_1985" /> The prevalence rate is defined as the number of cases registered for MDT treatment among the population in which the cases have occurred, again at a given point in time.<ref name="WHO_1985">{{cite book |title=Epidemiology of leprosy in relation to control. Report of a WHO Study Group |series=World Health Organization technical report series |date=1985 |volume=716 |pages=1–60 |pmid=3925646 |isbn=978-92-4-120716-4 |oclc=12095109 |hdl=10665/40171 |hdl-access=free | publisher = World Health Organization |last1=Organization |first1=World Health }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Year
! 2005
! 2006
! 2007
! 2008
! 2009
! 2010
! 2011
! 2012
! 2013
! 2014
! 2015
! 2016
! 2017
! 2018
! 2019
! 2020
! 2021
! 2022
! 2023
|-
| No. of new cases<ref>{{cite web |title=Number of new leprosy cases |url=https://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.A1639?lang=en |publisher=[[World Health Organization]] (WHO) |date=13 September 2021 |access-date=3 June 2022 |archive-date=26 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210926232241/https://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.A1639?lang=en |url-status=live }}</ref>
| 296,479
| 258,980
| 252,541
| 249,018
| 244,797
| 228,488
| 224,344
| 232,847
| 215,636
| 213,861
| 211,945
| 217,927
| 210,973
| 208,613
| 202,166
| 127,506
| 140,546
| 174,059
| 182,792
|}