The study concerns 337 outpatients with lepromatous leprosy who had been receiving dapsone treatment for 1-26 years-69% of them regularly and 31% irregularly. Routine bacterial examination (10 min per slide) by a paramedical technician showed only 50% of these patients to be bacteriologically positive. This rate attained 99% when each slide was examined for 30-60 min by a qualified bacteriologist. Other factors-apart from the limited action of sulfones-might account for these unexpected results: the material was collected by an experienced leprologist; the disease was still clinically active in 75% of the patients; about 25% of them had been treated for only 1-4 years; and the intake of dapsone in long-term treatment gradually decreases.
BT - Bulletin of the World Health Organization C1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/764995?dopt=Abstract DA - 1975 IS - 1 J2 - Bull. World Health Organ. LA - eng N2 -The study concerns 337 outpatients with lepromatous leprosy who had been receiving dapsone treatment for 1-26 years-69% of them regularly and 31% irregularly. Routine bacterial examination (10 min per slide) by a paramedical technician showed only 50% of these patients to be bacteriologically positive. This rate attained 99% when each slide was examined for 30-60 min by a qualified bacteriologist. Other factors-apart from the limited action of sulfones-might account for these unexpected results: the material was collected by an experienced leprologist; the disease was still clinically active in 75% of the patients; about 25% of them had been treated for only 1-4 years; and the intake of dapsone in long-term treatment gradually decreases.
PY - 1975 SP - 57 EP - 62 T2 - Bulletin of the World Health Organization TI - Bacteriological status (point prevalence) of lepromatous outpatients under sulfone treatment. UR - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2366341/pdf/bullwho00463-0067.pdf VL - 52 SN - 0042-9686 ER -