INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEPROSY^ Volume 52, Number 3

Printed in the U.S.A.

NEWS and NOTESThis department fiernishes information concerning institutions, organizations,

and individuals engaged in work on leprosy and other mycobacterial diseases, andmakes note of scientific meetings and other matters of interest.

Belgium. XIII International LeprosyCongress to be held in The Hague. On 2May 1984, the President of the Internation-al Leprosy Association Prof. Michel F. Le-chat was notified that the invitation pro-visionally ofICred by Abidjan, Ivory Coast,to host the XIII International Leprosy Con-gress in 1988 had to be withdrawn. In keep-ing with the vote taken at the General Meet-ing of Members of the ILA in New Delhion 25 February 1984, the generous invita-tion of The Hague, The Netherlands, hasbeen accepted and the XIII Congress willbe held in that city in August 1988.

India. X// Leprosy Congress French andSpanish abstract books still available. Thereare still some copies of the Congress' ab-stracts translated into French and Spanishavailable for purchase. Cost is US$ 15 percopy which includes postage. Make checkpayable to the International Leprosy As-sociation and send with your request to Dr.R. H. Thangaraj, ILA Secretary, The Lep-rosy Mission, 5 Amrita Shergill Marg, NewDelhi 110033, India.

"Leprosy in India" changes its name to"Indian Journal of Leprosy." The name ofthis journal "Leprosy in India" has beenchanged to "Indian Journal of Leprosy" be-ginning from Volume 56 (1984), and its vol-ume number will be continuous with thepresent one, i.e., Volume 55 (1983). For ref-erence purposes, the new name of the jour-nal shall be abbreviated as Indian J. Lepr.(Indian in full in order to avoid any con-fusion with mt. or Inter, standing for In-ternational).

"Leprosy in India" was started in 1929in the nature of "Notes" for circulationamong workers in India with Dr. ErnestMuir as its first editor. The journal madetremendous progress under the editorshipof Dr. Dharmendra who has been editingthe journal from 1943 with a brief break of5 years in the 50s (1955-1960) and of 2years in the 70s (1970-1972). Of late it has

grown up tremendously owing to increasedresearch activities going on all over the worldincluding India in the field of leprosy andreported in this journal. Therefore it is nowconsidered to be one of the foremost inter-national journals on leprosy. In view of itspresent status, it was strongly felt that therewas a need to change the title of the journalsuitably in order to ensure that the title re-flects the nature and contents of the journal.Suggestions for a suitable title were invitedfrom several leprologists, and the majorityof the opinion was that the title "IndianJournal of Leprosy" (Indian .1. Lepr.) wouldbe most appropriate. This suggestion wasunanimously approved by the GoverningBody of the Hind Kusht Nivaran Sangh. —Indian J. Lepr.

Korea. Korean Leprosy Associationchanges name. The Korean Leprosy Asso-ciation officially became the Korean Lep-rosy Control Association (KLCA) on 20January 1984. Active for many years in re-search, training, public education, patienttreatment, patient registration control andthe international exchange of knowledge andtechnology, the Association's name waschanged to lay greater emphasis on not onlypatient control but the public health aspectof the disease, it was announced by Dr. Sun-Kyu Park, President of the KLCA.

The Philippines. Dr. Gerrit Steenbergennamed new Director of the Leonard WoodMemorial (LWM) Cebu facility. The Leon-ard Wood Memorial (American LeprosyFoundation) is pleased to announce thatGerrit Steenbergen, M.D., M.P.H., will be-come the Director of the Cebu facility. Thelong-term goals of the Leonard Wood Me-morial are extremely compatible with thequalifications and management ability of Dr.Steenbergen.

A native of Holland, Dr. Steenbergen re-ceived his Doctor of Medicine degree fromState University Groningen, The Nether-lands, in 1975. From 1977 to 1983 was spent

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52, 3^ News and Notes^ 427

in Kenya, where he was Medical Officer forLeprosy and Tuberculosis. He attendedJohns Hopkins University School of Hy-giene and Public Health where he receivedhis Master of Public Health in May 1984.

us responsibilities will include admin-istrai ive management or the clinical, labo-ratory, and epidemiological activities of thefacility. Dr. Steenbergen, his wife and threesmall children moved to The Philippines inmid-summer to assume his duties in July. —LWM

South Africa. Thalidomide for Behcet'ssyndrome. Thalidomide can never be usedlightheartedly because of its capacity for in-ducing neuropathy and congenital malfor-mations, but apparently there are some dis-eases in which it can do good when nothingelse can. One of these is Behcet's syndrome,a disease of unknown origin involving re-curring oral and genital ulceration, eye le-sions (iritis, etc.), skin rashes and jointswelling and pain. Last year Saylan and Sal-tik reported good results from thalidomidetreatment in 26 cases of the syndrome, withimprovement of orogenital ulceration.

Bowers and Powell have recently con-firmed this in 3 cases of severe orogenitalulceration (2 female patients and 1 male)unresponsive to other measures (colchicine,antibiotics, antifungal drugs, prednisone ex-cept in high dosage). They were given 200mg thalidomide twice daily at first, with lat-er reduction of the dose to 100 mg twice aday. In the two female patients the oral andvulva] ulcers healed completely for the firsttime in eight years, while in the male patientpenile and scrotal ulcers healed and oral ul-cers improved. Iritis and arthritis were notaffected, and ulcers returned when the drugwas withdrawn. —S. Afr. Med. J. 64 (1983)886

Spain. International Symposium on Aly-cobacteria announced. Following the Eu-ropean Society of Mycobacteriology meet-ing in Cordoba, Spain, 25-26 September1985, an International Symposium on My-cobacteria will be held 27-28 September1985. The aim of the symposium is to bringtogether microbiologists and physicians in-volved in mycobacterial infections to ex-change ideas and update knowledge. Theofficial languages of the symposium will be

English and Spanish, with simultaneoustranslation. The symposium will be held atthe University of Cordoba "Colegio MayorUniversitario" and Faculty of Medicine.Themes will include the immunopathologyof leprosy and tuberculosis, modern meth-ods of rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis,therapy of tuberculosis and leprosy, exper-imental chemotherapy with new antimy-cobacterial agents, new knowledge about M.leprae, etc. For further information contact:Secretariat, International Symposium onMycobacteria of Clinical Interest, Depart-ment of Microbiology, School of Medicine,University of Cordoba, Cordoba 4, Spain. —M. Casal

Switzerland. 147110 intensifies research inimmunology of tuberculosis. WHO has re-cently expanded its research efforts in theimmunology of tuberculosis to take advan-tage of recent progress in the basic biomed-ical sciences. The new methods now avail-able, such as recombinant DNA technology,T-cell cloning and monoclonal antibodies,should open up fresh opportunities for de-vising better immunoprophylaxis and othercontrol methods. Yet, so far they have notled to a concerted effort in the control oftuberculosis, a disease that remains a greatpublic health problem in developing coun-tries despite the application of the controlmethods already available.

A comprehensive research program wasoutlined at a planning meeting convened byWHO in Boston, U.S.A., earlier this year.It was realized that such an effort requiresa stepwise approach, and the meeting fo-cused on the initial activities to be carriedout. Priority was given to the following areas,where activities and resources at present aretoo limited.a) Molecular biology of Mycobacterium tu-

berculosis: the goals in this area includeestablishing the genetic and biochemicalbases for the pathogenicity of .11. tuber-culosis and developing methods to iden-tify strain heterogeneity.

b) The production of monoclonal antibod-ies to various components of M. tuber-culosis to help detect mycobacterialantigens in clinical specimens; the iden-tification of the most suitable serotypesof M. tuberculosis and M. bovis for epi-demiological use; and the devising of

428^ International Journal of Leprosy^ 1984

more sensitive and specific serologicaltests.

c) Studies of the cellular immune responseto Al. tuberculosis and its regulation indifferent population groups, includingpatients with different types of tubercu-losis and subjects living in areas whereBCG has been found to give insufficientprotection against tuberculosis.

d) Studies in experimental animals to iden-tify by T-cell cloning the antigens in-volved in protective immunity, to de-termine the optimum means of elicitinglocal immunity in the lung, and to iden-tify the mechanisms of antibacterial ac-tion in host cells, especially macro-phages.

The program will be managed by a specialgroup of experts from the international sci-entific community.

In June an ad hoc meeting decided onthe award of the first 15 contracts underthe program, totalling approximatelyUS$200,000. It is expected that the expertswill meet in June 1984 to consider appli-cations for support under the program. In-terested researchers may obtain further in-formation from the Director, Division ofCommunicable Diseases, World Health Or-ganization, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland.—WHO Chronicle 37 (1983) 214-215

United Kingdom. LEPRA Diamond Ju-bilee. The U.K. charity dedicated to fightingleprosy throughout the world will celebrateits 60th anniversary this year with a seriesof events to attract support for LEPRA. Theyear will include an auction of jewelry do-nated to the appeal (an Eye for a Gem—aGem for an Eye); a thanksgiving service atAll Hallows, London, on 16 February at-tended by the Queen, LEPRA's patron, andthe Archbishop of Canterbury; and partic-ipation in the XII International LeprosyCongress in New Delhi, India, 20-25 Feb-ruary. Other fund-raising events will takeplace throughout the year. Inquiries shouldbe addressed to: LEPRA, Suite 54, ManficldHouse, 376 Strand, London WC2, En-gland.— Lancet 1 (1984) 118

U.S.A. Fellowships in India, Indonesia,Africa, and Latin America. The Ashoka So-ciety of Washington, D.C., U.S.A., has fel-lowships available for individuals wishing

to carry out health and other projects forthe public good. Ashoka Fellowships are nowavailable in India and Indonesia and areexpected to be available in one or morecountries in Africa and Latin America inthe near future. Private agencies in healthfields are invited to nominate individualswhose projects are singularly creative. Sug-gestions of persons in African and LatinAmerican health programs who might beinterested in establishing a Society for awardof the Fellowships would also be appreci-ated. For more information, contact Rich-ard A. Graham, The Ashoka Fellowships,1519 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W.,Washington, D.C. 20036, U.S.A.

Leprosy cases in 1983. In 1983 there were241 new leprosy cases reported in the UnitedStates. This compares to 238 reported for1982 and a median of 220 new cases peryear over the period 1978-1982. These caseswere reported predominantly from Califor-nia (76), Hawaii and Texas (35 each), NewYork City (26), and Washington state (16). —Morb. Mort. Wkly. Rept. 33 (1983)

Leprosy in Wants: enquiry and study. Dr.Wayne Meyers, Chief, Division of Micro-biology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathol-ogy, Washington, D.C., U.S.A., has writtento a number of colleagues in various partsof the world asking for information aboutleprosy in infants under one year of age. Hisletter reads as follows:

For some time now the leprosy registryhas been interested in leprosy in infants.In collaboration with Merlin L. Brubaker,M.D., former Regional Advisor for Lep-rosy for the World Health Organization,Region of the Americas (PAHO), we areundertaking an in-depth survey of theproblem. We are aware, from personalexperience and from a survey of the filesof the Leprosy Registry at the ArmedForces Institute of Pathology, of severalinfants under one year of age who hadleprosy, proven by clinical and histopath-ologic findings. We believe that a detailedstudy of leprosy in this age group will pro-vide valuable information on at least twocontroversial issues: (1) The minimal in-cubation period of leprosy. (2) Intrauter-ine infection of the fetus by Mycobacte-rium leprae.

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As one who is knowledgeable in leprosywe are inviting your cooperation to pro-vide us with any information you mayhave on leprosy in infants under one yearof age. These may be either infants youhave personally diagnosed or treated, orany others you know of in the geographicareas where you have worked.

We need as much information for eachpatient as can be reasonably supplied onthe following: (1) Basis for the diagnosis(e.g., clinical manifestations, bacterio-logic findings or histopathologic changes).(2) Classification of leprosy, and any in-formation available on the course of thedisease. (3) Suspected source(s) of infec-tion (e.g., parents, siblings, other con-tacts, or unknown). If the contact is a par-ent, what was the classification and statusof disease at the time of birth of the pa-tient? (4) Have the patients been the sub-jects of any published report? This willhelp to reduce duplication in reporting.

Write to Dr. Wayne Meyers, ArmedForces Institute of Pathology, Washington,D.C. 20306, U.S.A.— Lepr. Rev. 54 (1983)346-347

Mother Teresa winner of 1984 Damien-Dutton Award. By unanimous vote of theBoard of Directors of the Damien-DuttonSociety for Leprosy Aid, Mother Teresa hasbeen named as the 32nd recipient of theDamien-Dutton Award. The Award is giv-en annually to an individual or a group ofindividuals who have made a significantcontribution to the conquest of leprosy,either through medical care, research, re-habilitation, education, social welfare, orphilanthropy. Mother Teresa is world-re-nowned for her personal approach in serv-ing the poor and handicapped, and a 1979winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Definiteplans for the presentation will be announcedlater in the year.— Howard E. Crouch

National IIansen's Disease Center semi-nar schedule. The 1984-1985 seminarschedule is as follows:

Medical Seminar on Hansen 's DiseaseMarch 5-6,1985May 21-22,1985October 8-9,1985

International Seminar on Hansen's Dis-ease

April 14-20,1985September 8-14,1985Seminar on Hansen 's Disease for Pa-

thologistsOctober 2-3,1984October 1-2,1985Management of Insensitive Feet: Medical

and Therapeutic ApproachesOctober 23-25,1984January 29-31,1985October 22-24,1985Management of Insensitive Hand: Bio-

mechanics of Deformity and CorrectionMarch 26-28,1985

For further information contact: RichardJ. O'Connor, Ed.D., National Hansen'sDisease Center, Carville, Louisiana 70721,U.S.A.

Nominations for 1985 Damien-DuttonAward now open. Any member in goodstanding of the International Leprosy As-sociation is eligible to nominate a candidatefor the 1985 Damien-Dutton Award. A bi-ographical sketch of the nominee, togetherwith a letter stating why he/she should beconsidered, should be sent to: HowardCrouch, President, Damien-Dutton Societyfor Leprosy Aid, Inc., 616 Bedford Avenue,Bellmore, New York 11710, U.S.A.

Voluntary payment of IJL page charges.Because of the dramatically increased costsof publishing the INTERNATIONAL JOURNALOF LEPROSY, the Council of the Internation-al Leprosy Association has adopted the pol-icy of requesting authors to help defray pub-lication costs on a voluntary basis when grantor institutional funds are available for thepurpose. Page charges are computed atUS$50 per printed page and at this levelonly partially cover the cost of publishingan article.

The availability or unavailability of grantor institutional funds to pay page chargeswill have no influence whatsoever on thedecision of the Editor to accept or reject orrequest modification of any article. The re-quest for voluntary payment of page chargeswill not be sent to authors until the manu-script has been accepted and scheduled forpublication.— W. Felton Ross, Treasurer,ILA.