01899nas a2200397   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001000055653001600065653001900081653001200100653003000112653001100142653002200153653001100175653002300186653001200209653000900221653001300230653001500243653001300258653003000271100001300301700001700314700001200331700001600343700001600359700001400375245013600389856004100525300001000566490000700576050001400583520089000597022001401487       2000                            d  c2000 Dec10aAdult10aClofazimine10aCohort Studies10aDapsone10aDrug Therapy, Combination10aFemale10aFollow-Up Studies10aHumans10aLeprostatic Agents10aleprosy10aMale10aNeuritis10aRecurrence10aRifampin10aWorld Health Organization1 aShaw I N1 aNatrajan M M1 aRao G S1 aJesudasan K1 aChristian M1 aKavitha M00aLong-term follow up of multibacillary leprosy patients with high BI treated with WHO/MDT regimen for a fixed duration of two years.  uhttp://ila.ilsl.br/pdfs/v68n4a01.pdf  a405-90 v68  aSHAW 20003 a<p>Forty-six, newly detected, previously untreated multibacillary (MB) patients with a bacterial index (BI) of > or = 3+ who had received WHO/MDT for 2 years were followed up for a total duration of 424 person-years and a mean duration of 9.26 +/- 2.98 years per patient. The BIs of the patients continued to fall, and all of the patients, except one, reached skin-smear negativity. WHO/MDT was well accepted and well tolerated. Relapse, which was defined as an increase in the BI of 1+ or more with or without clinical evidence of activity, was observed in only one patient, giving a relapse rate of 2.2% or 0.23 per 100 person-years in patients with a BI of > or = 3+ after long-term follow up. This patient was started on a second course of WHO/MDT to which he responded favorably. WHO/MDT for a fixed duration of 2 years for MB patients as recommended by the WHO is vindicated.</p>  a0148-916X