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Authors
Affiliations
1 Dept. of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy, RNT Medical College, Udaipur-313001, Rajasthan, IN
2 Dept. of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy, G R Medical College, Gwalior, MP, IN
Source
The Indian Practitioner, Vol 68, No 3 (2015), Pagination: 24-28
Abstract
Background: New skin or nerve lesions may develop despite the fixed duration of multi drug therapy (MDT), in multibacillary (MB) and paucibacillary (PB) leprosy. The lesions could be due to reaction, relapse or reinfection. The index study was conducted to know the percentage of relapse in leprosy at a tertiary care hospital in Southern Rajasthan, India.
Material and Methods: The study was conducted on 29 (4 PB and 25 MB) cases, who had completed WHO guided fixed duration MDT regimens and were under regular surveillance for more than one year. Besides the relapse criteria laid by Beck-Bleumink, we performed slit skin smear (BI) and skin biopsy. Study spanned from January 2005 to December 2006.
Observations: Two MB cases (8%) evidenced features of clinical as well as bacteriological relapse, but none of the PB cases relapsed. The overall relapse rate was 6.9%. Relapsed patients reported after 1 and 5 years of release from treatment (RFT) and their newer clinical and bacteriological status was also lepromatous leprosy (LL) with BI 4+.
Conclusions: MDT is quite effective for treatment of leprosy, however, possibility of relapse is still there. Relapse rate showed wide variation in different studies.
Keywords
MDR, Relapse, BI, Leprosy.
