A case of leprosy in an immunocompromised traveller

Sille Pelser; Annemieke Geluk; Wynand H P M Vissers; Nikki Knijn; Colette L M van Hees; Robert-Jan Hassing

doi:10.1093/jtm/taae060

A case of leprosy in an immunocompromised traveller

J Travel Med. 2024 Apr 11:taae060. doi: 10.1093/jtm/taae060. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Sille Pelser¹, Annemieke Geluk^{2

3}, Wynand H P M Vissers⁴, Nikki Knijn⁵, Colette L M van Hees^{6

3}, Robert-Jan Hassing¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, Rijnstate Hospital Arnhem, the Netherlands.
² Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands.
³ Erasmus MC/LUMC Leprosy Center of Expertise, the Netherlands.
⁴ Department of Dermatology, Rijnstate Hospital Arnhem, the Netherlands.
⁵ Pathology-DNA, Rijnstate Hospital Arnhem, the Netherlands.
⁶ Department of Dermatology, Erasmus Medical Centre Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

PMID: 38602709
DOI: 10.1093/jtm/taae060

Abstract

We describe a case of leprosy in an immunocompromised Dutch male whose parents were born in a leprosy-endemic country. The use of immunosuppressive drugs in Mycobacterium leprae infected individuals therefore increases the risk of development of leprosy. Exposure and infection at a young age through his parents is another possible risk factor.