Six years' follow-up of multibacillary leprosy patients treated with uniform multi-drug therapy in China.

OBJECTIVE

This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of uniform multi-drug therapy (UMDT) in patients with multibacillary (MB) leprosy.

METHODS

Newly detected MB leprosy patients were treated with six months of UMDT as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). The effectiveness of treatment was evaluated by clinical status and skin smear tests.

RESULTS

At the start, 114 patients were recruited, examined, and treated. These patients were re-examined and followed annually for up to six years. A total of 75 (65.8%) patients completed six years of follow-up. Dropouts were attributable to death, severe drug reactions, and other reasons. The mean ± standard deviation bacteriological index (BI) of all patients decreased from 3.01 ± 1.50 before treatment to 0.02 ± 1.84 at the end of year 6, reflecting a mean annual decrease of 0.50. The rate of smear negativity in all patients was 98.7% at the end of year 6 of follow-up. A total of 53 leprosy reactions were observed. One patient relapsed 13 months after the cessation of treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

A 6-month administration of UMDT is effective in MB leprosy patients. The changes in BI values and the frequency of leprosy reactions were similar to those cited in reports in the literature of patients treated with 1- or 2-year regimens of MDT. However, further research should be conducted to confirm the present results.