01500nas a2200253   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001100055653001200066653002600078100001200104700001400116700002000130700001200150700001700162700001200179245008200191856005900273300001000332490000700342050003200349520085100381022001401232       1992                            d  c1992 Dec10aHumans10aleprosy10aRetrospective Studies1 aRao P S1 aReddy B N1 aKrishnamurthy P1 aRao B R1 aSastrulu M V1 aDutta A00aInitial intensive therapy for multibacillary leprosy patients--in retrospect.  uhttp://leprev.ilsl.br/pdfs/1992/v63n4/pdf/v63n4a07.pdf  a350-70 v63  aInfolep Library - available3 a<p>We analysed the results of 4845 multibacillary (MB) patients being treated with multidrug treatment (MDT) in the Srikakulam District of Andhra Pradesh, India. Of these, 2309 (47.7%) patients were given an initial 14-day intensive therapy with rifampicin, clofazimine and dapsone, followed by the WHO recommended pulse therapy. The rest of the cases were given only pulse therapy. The improvement in terms of bacteriological clearance and the proportion of cases declared released from treatment (RFT) was found to be significantly higher among patients treated with only pulse therapy. Clinic attendance was found to be better and more regular in patients treated with intensive therapy, and no relapses were seen with either therapy. The implications of these findings on the operational aspects of programme implementation are discussed.</p>  a0305-7518