01541nas a2200325   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001000055653001200065653003100077653003000108653001100138653001100149653002300160653001200183653000900195653002500204653001500229653001300244100001500257700001400272700001600286245012500302856005900427300001000486490000700496050003200503520066600535022001401201       1995                            d  c1995 Sep10aAdult10aDapsone10aDrug Resistance, Microbial10aDrug Therapy, Combination10aFemale10aHumans10aLeprostatic Agents10aleprosy10aMale10aMycobacterium leprae10aRecurrence10aRifampin1 aSoares D J1 aNeupane K1 aBritton W J00aRelapse with multibacillary leprosy caused by rifampicin sensitive organisms following paucibacillary multidrug therapy.  uhttp://leprev.ilsl.br/pdfs/1995/v66n3/pdf/v66n3a03.pdf  a210-30 v66  aInfolep Library - available3 a<p>Many leprosy patients treated with multidrug therapy (MDT) had previously received dapsone (DDS) monotherapy for many years. We report here 2 such patients treated with modified paucibacillary MDT composed of rifampicin and DDS who subsequently relapsed with multibacillary leprosy 5 and 6 years after release from treatment. Isolates of Mycobacterium leprae from both patients were resistant to DDS but sensitive to rifampicin, suggesting that the relapses were caused by rifampicin sensitive 'persister' organisms. The implications of this for surveillance of patients released from treatment (RFT) and the management of relapsed patients is discussed.</p>  a0305-7518