Correlation of bacterial index to zinc serum level in multibacillary type leprosy patient

Abstract

Background: Leprosy Multibacillary type is the leading source of infection because total of bacteria is high. Zinc is an essential trace element of viability of host or pathogen. This research aimed to determine the relationship between bacterial index with zinc serum level in patients with leprosy multibacillary type.Methods: It was cross-sectional observational analytic research in 31 subjects selected using consecutive sampling and they met inclusion and exclusion criteria conducted in Outpatient Installation at RSUD Dr. Saiful Anwar Malang and RS Kusta Kediri in February to March 2019. Examination of acid-resistant bacteria used Ziehl Neelsen's staining method and measurement based on Ridley and Joplin. Test/examination of zinc serum level was conducted in Prodia Laboratory using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS). data were analyzed statistically using program of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.Results: From 31 research subjects, it was obtained that the lowest bacteria index of 1+ and the highest bacteria index of 6+ with median value of 3.5±2. the average of zinc serum level was 61.81±13.28 µg/dL with the lowest level of 37.00 µg/dL and the highest of 94.00 µg/dL. Based on Spearman correlation test, it was obtained correlation value of - 0.557 (55.7%) and value p = 0.001.Conclusion: There is a significant correlation between bacteria index and zinc serum level with strong closeness value. Correlation is negative, the higher bacteria index, the lower zinc serum level.