01347nas a2200265   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001100055653003500066653001100101653001200112653000900124653002500133653001500158653002600173100001800199700001000217700001300227245007000240300001100310490000700321050003200328520070700360022001401067       1982                            d  c1982 Oct10aFemale10aFluorescent Antibody Technique10aHumans10aleprosy10aMale10aMycobacterium leprae10aSkin Tests10aStaining and Labeling1 aHameedullah A1 aLal S1 aGarg B R00aComposite skin contact smears in multibacillary leprosy patients.  a605-120 v54  aInfolep Library - available3 a<p>"Composite skin contact smears" technique was used in 20 multibacillary leprosy patients to find out the presence of AFB on their intact skin. One hundred and twenty one AFB were found in 930 sq.cm. area of skin surface examined. Seventy-five AFB were solidly staining and 46 were granular. The bacilli were found in all the sites examined. Immunofluorescent staining showed M. leprae in one out of four patients. The number of bacilli discharged from the intact skin seems adequate for the transmission of leprosy considering the large surface area of the skin and evidence in mouse experiments that multiplication of M. leprae can be obtained after inoculation of very small number of bacilli.</p>  a0024-1024