Leprosy and Lobomycosis: First report from the Amazon Region.

ABSTRACT

Leprosy is still a relevant health problem in Brazil with 31 044 new cases diagnosed in 2013, of which 781 new cases diagnosed in the State of Amazonas. Lobomycosis is a cutaneous-subcutaneous mycosis caused by Lacazia loboi, an in vitro uncultivable fungus. Lobomycosis has been mainly reported in the Amazon region of Brazil and Colombia affecting mainly male farmers and workers in extraction of rubber. Lobomycosis is clinically characterised by keloid-like lesions and chronic evolution. Even if lobomycosis does not represent a major public health problem, it remains a serious condition for patients due to unsatisfactory treatment. We report a case of an old man with lepromatous leprosy diagnosed in 1983, treated with multidrug therapy until 1989 and presenting a leprosy relapse 15 years after treatment. At this time a lobomycosis was also diagnosed in a keloid-like lesion evolving for more than 30 years. This co-infection has been only rarely reported and this is the first detailed case report in the English literature.