{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,8]],"date-time":"2026-10-08T16:54:35Z","timestamp":1791478475355,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,24]],"date-time":"2020-07-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1595548800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Leprosy is a chronic neglected infectious disease that affects over 200,000 people each year and causes disabilities in more than four million people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The disease can appear with a wide spectrum of clinical forms, and therefore the clinical suspicion is often difficult. Refugees and migrants from endemic countries affected by leprosy can remain undiagnosed in Europe due to the unpreparedness of clinicians. We retrospectively describe the characteristics of 55 refugees\/migrants with a diagnosis of leprosy established in Italy from 2009 to 2018. Continents of origin were Africa (42%), Asia (40%), and South and Central America (18%). The symptoms reported were skin lesions (91%), neuropathy (71%), edema (7%), eye involvement (6%), fever (6%), arthritis (4%), and lymphadenopathy (4%). Seven patients (13%) had irreversible complications. Overall, 35% were relapses and 66% multibacillary leprosy. Furthermore, we conducted a review of 17 case reports or case series and five nationwide reports, published in the same decade, describing 280 migrant patients with leprosy in Europe. In Europe, leprosy is a rare chronic infectious disease, but it has not completely disappeared. Diagnosis and treatment of leprosy in refugees and migrants from endemic countries are a challenge. European guidelines for this neglected disease in this high-risk population would be beneficial.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms8081113","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,24]],"date-time":"2020-07-24T09:06:09Z","timestamp":1595581569000},"page":"1113","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Leprosy in Refugees and Migrants in Italy and a Literature Review of Cases Reported in Europe between 2009 and 2018"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"8","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7499-5843","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anna","family":"Beltrame","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious, Tropical Diseases and Microbiology, I.R.C.C.S. Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, Via Sempreboni 5, 37024 Negrar di Valpolicella, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gianfranco","family":"Barabino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dermatological Clinic, National Reference Center for Hansen\u2019s Disease, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Sistema Sanitario Regione Liguria, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico per l\u2019Oncologia, Largo Rosanna Benzi 10, 16132 Genoa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7472-312X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yiran","family":"Wei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dermatological Clinic, National Reference Center for Hansen\u2019s Disease, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Sistema Sanitario Regione Liguria, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico per l\u2019Oncologia, Largo Rosanna Benzi 10, 16132 Genoa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7720-7718","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Clapasson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dermatological Clinic, National Reference Center for Hansen\u2019s Disease, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Sistema Sanitario Regione Liguria, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico per l\u2019Oncologia, Largo Rosanna Benzi 10, 16132 Genoa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pierantonio","family":"Orza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious, Tropical Diseases and Microbiology, I.R.C.C.S. Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, Via Sempreboni 5, 37024 Negrar di Valpolicella, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3933-3892","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesca","family":"Perandin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious, Tropical Diseases and Microbiology, I.R.C.C.S. Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, Via Sempreboni 5, 37024 Negrar di Valpolicella, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5739-3795","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chiara","family":"Piubelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious, Tropical Diseases and Microbiology, I.R.C.C.S. Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, Via Sempreboni 5, 37024 Negrar di Valpolicella, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Geraldo Badona","family":"Monteiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious, Tropical Diseases and Microbiology, I.R.C.C.S. Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, Via Sempreboni 5, 37024 Negrar di Valpolicella, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2447-1777","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Silvia Stefania","family":"Longoni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious, Tropical Diseases and Microbiology, I.R.C.C.S. Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, Via Sempreboni 5, 37024 Negrar di Valpolicella, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8853-8443","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paola","family":"Rodari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious, Tropical Diseases and Microbiology, I.R.C.C.S. Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, Via Sempreboni 5, 37024 Negrar di Valpolicella, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Silvia","family":"Duranti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious, Tropical Diseases and Microbiology, I.R.C.C.S. Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, Via Sempreboni 5, 37024 Negrar di Valpolicella, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2852-2287","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ronaldo","family":"Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious, Tropical Diseases and Microbiology, I.R.C.C.S. Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, Via Sempreboni 5, 37024 Negrar di Valpolicella, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Veronica Andrea","family":"Fittipaldo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Oncology Department, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research I.R.C.C.S., Via Giuseppe La Masa 19, 20156 Milano, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zeno","family":"Bisoffi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious, Tropical Diseases and Microbiology, I.R.C.C.S. Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, Via Sempreboni 5, 37024 Negrar di Valpolicella, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Diagnostic and Public Health, University of Verona, P.le L. A. Scuro 10, 37134 Verona, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1209","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(04)15952-7","article-title":"Leprosy","volume":"363","author":"Britton","year":"2004","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"WHO (2011). Working to overcome the global impact of neglected tropical diseases\u2014Summary. Wkly. Epidemiol Rec., 86, 113\u2013120."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"260","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.16-0713","article-title":"Detection of the leprosy agent Mycobacterium lepromatosis in South America and Europe","volume":"96","author":"Han","year":"2017","journal-title":"Am. J. Trop. Med. 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