Mapping Antimicrobial Resistance in Leprosy Worldwide: A Scoping Review and Ecological Spatial Analysis

This scoping review maps the global occurrence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in leprosy (Mycobacterium leprae) across space and time. Following the JBI methodology for scoping reviews and the PRISMA-ScR reporting guideline, it charts the extent, range and nature of published reports of drug resistance: resistance type (primary/secondary), pattern (monoresistance/multidrug resistance), the anti-leprosy drugs involved (dapsone, rifampicin, clofazimine, ofloxacin), and resistance-associated gene mutations (folP1, rpoB, gyrA), when reported. An ecological component treats countries as spatial units to describe the geographic distribution of resistant cases in relation to climate zone and endemicity level. Expected outputs are a descriptive synthesis, summary tables, resistance co-occurrence figures, and thematic maps of the worldwide distribution of AMR in leprosy.