01580nas a2200265   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001500055653001000070653002100080653003500101653002200136653001100158653001100169653001300180653001200193100001800205700001300223245007900236300001200315490000700327050003200334520093400366022001401300       1989                            d  c1989 Oct10aAdolescent10aChild10aChild, Preschool10aFluorescent Antibody Technique10aFollow-Up Studies10aHumans10aInfant10aLepromin10aleprosy1 aBharadwaj V P1 aKatoch K00aDetection of subclinical infection in leprosy: an 8 years follow-up study.  a495-5020 v61  aInfolep Library - available3 a<p>A follow-up study has been carried out using Fluorescent Leprosy Antibody Absorption (FLA-ABS) test in 1069 healthy contacts of multi and pauci-bacillary leprosy patients. Simultaneously lepromin testing with Dharmendra antigen has also been done to determine their delayed type hypersensitivity. In nearly 8 years of follow-up, 46 contacts have developed disease and of these 41 contacts were FLA-ABS positive and lepromin negative. It is inferred that test (along with lepromin) can be used to identify the contacts who are at higher risk of developing the disease. FLA-ABS test has also been found to be highly sensitive for detection of subclinical infection specially in younger age groups. This test could therefore serve as a very sensitive epidemiological tool for assessing the extent of disease in the community and for monitoring the transmission of disease especially after MDT and other intervention measures.</p>  a0254-9395