In a stable rural population of South India, 18 consecutive untreated persons newly discovered to have leprosy with a Bacterial Index (BI) greater than or equal to 2+ were tested for Mycobacterium leprae resistant to dapsone (DDS) by the mouse foot pad test. Of 12 successful tests, five detected resistant M. leprae. Known contact with a treated patient in the ten years preceding the diagnosis of leprosy was not found to increase the risk of DDS-resistant M. leprae occurring in an untreated, newly diagnosed patient. This data is consistent with the bulk of evidence in the field of bacteriology, which makes it seem unlikely that treated patients are the only source, or even the major source, of resistant M. leprae in untreated patients. Bacterial mutants resistant to a drug have been shown to precede initial use of the drug. Tests for drug-resistant bacteria in untreated patients before a drug is widely used in a community are likely to be important for subsequent evaluation of resistance to the drug in that community.
BT - International journal of leprosy and other mycobacterial diseases : official organ of the International Leprosy Association C1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6685700?dopt=Abstract DA - 1983 Sep IS - 3 J2 - Int. J. Lepr. Other Mycobact. Dis. LA - eng N2 -In a stable rural population of South India, 18 consecutive untreated persons newly discovered to have leprosy with a Bacterial Index (BI) greater than or equal to 2+ were tested for Mycobacterium leprae resistant to dapsone (DDS) by the mouse foot pad test. Of 12 successful tests, five detected resistant M. leprae. Known contact with a treated patient in the ten years preceding the diagnosis of leprosy was not found to increase the risk of DDS-resistant M. leprae occurring in an untreated, newly diagnosed patient. This data is consistent with the bulk of evidence in the field of bacteriology, which makes it seem unlikely that treated patients are the only source, or even the major source, of resistant M. leprae in untreated patients. Bacterial mutants resistant to a drug have been shown to precede initial use of the drug. Tests for drug-resistant bacteria in untreated patients before a drug is widely used in a community are likely to be important for subsequent evaluation of resistance to the drug in that community.
PY - 1983 SP - 374 EP - 7 T2 - International journal of leprosy and other mycobacterial diseases : official organ of the International Leprosy Association TI - The significance of dapsone (DDS)-resistant Mycobacterium leprae in untreated patients. VL - 51 SN - 0148-916X ER -