02112nas a2200217   4500000000100000008004100001260001200042100001300054700001300067700001200080700001200092700001200104700001000116700001500126245006600141856007400207300000900281490000600290520158400296022001401880       2020                            d  bMedknow1 aSarkar S1 aSarkar T1 aPatra A1 aGhosh A1 aDutta J1 aSen I1 aTarafder D00aBCG vaccination: Effects on the patterns of pediatric leprosy  uhttp://www.jfmpc.com/temp/JFamMedPrimaryCare973673-4816284_132242.pdf  a36730 v93 aIntroduction: Leprosy in pediatric population continues to remain as one of the major public health problems in India. BCG vaccination has been implicated in producing some protection against leprosy. Objectives: The present study intended to find out the patterns of leprosy in the pediatric age group (<12 years) and to determine the proportion of paucibacillary (PB) and multibacillary (MB) leprosy cases among the BCG-vaccinated and nonvaccinated groups. Methodology: It is a cross-sectional study among patients with leprosy up to the age of 12 years attending a tertiary care hospital in Eastern India by comprehensive history taking and through clinical examination. The history of BCG vaccination was enquired and the BCG scar was looked for to determine the BCG-vaccinated and nonvaccinated group. After collecting the data in a predesigned case sheet, the data were analyzed. Result: Of the 137 patients included in this study, 71.53% belonged to the 11–12 years age, 27.74% the 5–10 years age, and 1 patient the <5 year age group. The sex ratio was 1:1.63. PB leprosy was more common than MB leprosy. Smear positivity, deformity, and reaction were not very frequent. Among the vaccinated patients, the ratio of PB and MB leprosy was 5.3:1, while in the nonvaccinated group the ratio was 1.2:1. Data analysis showed that the proportion of MB leprosy was statistically significant in the nonvaccinated group than in the vaccinated group (p = 0.0352). Conclusion: Our study pointed that BCG vaccination might have a role in enhancing the cell-mediated immunity (CMI).  a2249-4863