Table 1. Epidemiological, clinical and laboratory characteristics among leprosy household contacts.
| Parameters | Seropositive HC (n = 49) | Seronegative HC (n = 30) | p value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age | 42.57 ± 16.30 | 42.30 ± 15.36 | 0.9476 |
| Gender | 0.1124 | ||
| Male | 20.4% (10/49) | 36.7% (11/30) | |
| Female | 79.6% (39/49) | 63.3% (19/30) | |
| Type of contact | 0.2595 | ||
| Intradomiciliary | 53.1% (26/49) | 40% (12/30) | |
| Extradomiciliary | 46.9% (23/49) | 60% (18/30) | |
| BCG | 0.6201 | ||
| 0 scars | 20.4% (10/49) | 13.3% (4/30) | |
| 1 or 2 scars | 79.6% (39/49) | 86.7% (26/30) | |
| Index case | 0.9232 | ||
| Paucibacillary | 6.1% (3/49) | 6.7% (2/30) | |
| Multibacillary | 93.9% (46/49) | 93.3% (28/30) | |
| Clinical evaluation | |||
| Neural thickening | 2.0% (1/49) | 0 | 0.3264 |
| Skin lesions | 0 | 0 | - |
| Sensory symptoms | 0 | 0 | - |
| Muscular weakness | 0 | 0 | - |
| Laboratory analyzes | |||
| ELISA index | 2.02 ± 0.73 | 0.37 ± 0.21 | 0.0001* |
| Positivity skin biopsy qPCR | 6.1% (3/49) | 3.3% (1/30) | 0.5723 |
| Positivity slit-skin qPCR | 12.2% (6/49) | 6.6% (2/30) | 0.4126 |
| Abnormal US | 26.5% (13/49) | 3.3% (1/30) | 0.0038* |
HC = household contacts; n = number of contacts; BCG = Bacillus Calmette-Guérin; ELISA = enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; qPCR = Real Time Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction; US = Ultrasonography.
*Statistically significant.