02049nas a2200373   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653002300055653003000078653002200108653001100130653002600141653002300167653002400190653002500214653003200239653000900271653002200280100001500302700001600317700001500333700001400348700001500362700001200377700001100389700001100400700001600411700001500427245010000442300001100542490000800553520110000561022001401661       1993                            d  c1993 Feb10aBacterial Vaccines10aDrug Therapy, Combination10aFollow-Up Studies10aHumans10aImmunotherapy, Active10aLeprostatic Agents10aLeprosy, Borderline10aLeprosy, lepromatous10aNontuberculous Mycobacteria10aSkin10aTreatment Outcome1 aZaheer S A1 aMukherjee R1 aRamkumar B1 aMisra R S1 aSharma A K1 aKar H K1 aKaur H1 aNair S1 aMukherjee A1 aTalwar G P00aCombined multidrug and Mycobacterium w vaccine therapy in patients with multibacillary leprosy.  a401-100 v1673 a<p>Immunotherapy with Mycobacterium w vaccine was attempted in patients with borderline-borderline, borderline lepromatous (BL), or lepromatous leprosy (LL) to determine whether immunization can hasten recovery and reduce treatment time by invigorating cell-mediated immunity. Mycobacterium w, a nonpathogenic, rapidly growing, atypical mycobacterium, shares a number of common B and T cell determinants with Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Patients receiving the vaccine had rapid clinical improvement and accelerated bacteriologic clearance. After treatment with vaccine for 2 years, 13 of 31 BL and LL patients were bacteriologically negative as were 5 of 25 controls. Vaccinated patients had one of two distinct histologic features, either an upgrading in the disease spectrum or complete clearance of granuloma. Some 80% of lepromin conversions were in BL and LL patients who received vaccine versus none and 14.3% of BL and LL controls, respectively. Thirteen of 17 vaccinated LL patients were released from treatment after 2 years in contrast to 2 of 15 controls.</p>  a0022-1899