Based upon the data from the Chinese National System for Leprosy Surveillance, this paper reports on the relapses in 47,276 leprosy patients cured by or released from WHO-recommended multidrug therapy (WHO/MDT). The overall relapse rate was 0.73/1000 patient-years (PY). There was a statistically significant difference in the relapse rates of WHO/MDT-MB (0.61/1000 PY) and WHO/MDT-PB (1.04/1000 PY) (chi 2 = 15.7, p < 0.01) patients. For multibacillary (MB) patients, the relapse rate in patients treated with fixed-duration MDT (0.56/1000 PY) was comparable with that in patients treated with MDT until skin-smear negativity (0.73/1000 PY) (chi 2 = 2.20, p > 0.05). Our present study suggests that fixed-duration MDT is a cost-effective regimen for the treatment of leprosy in China. The present results also show that relapse of leprosy is acceptably low and has not yet become a serious clinical or public health problem but, based upon the incubation of relapse in MDT patients, it is necessary to encourage annual follow up for at least 5 years for paucibacillary (PB) and 10 years for MB patients after being released from WHO/MDT.
BT - International journal of leprosy and other mycobacterial diseases : official organ of the International Leprosy Association C1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10700911?dopt=Abstract DA - 1999 Dec IS - 4 J2 - Int. J. Lepr. Other Mycobact. Dis. LA - eng N2 -Based upon the data from the Chinese National System for Leprosy Surveillance, this paper reports on the relapses in 47,276 leprosy patients cured by or released from WHO-recommended multidrug therapy (WHO/MDT). The overall relapse rate was 0.73/1000 patient-years (PY). There was a statistically significant difference in the relapse rates of WHO/MDT-MB (0.61/1000 PY) and WHO/MDT-PB (1.04/1000 PY) (chi 2 = 15.7, p < 0.01) patients. For multibacillary (MB) patients, the relapse rate in patients treated with fixed-duration MDT (0.56/1000 PY) was comparable with that in patients treated with MDT until skin-smear negativity (0.73/1000 PY) (chi 2 = 2.20, p > 0.05). Our present study suggests that fixed-duration MDT is a cost-effective regimen for the treatment of leprosy in China. The present results also show that relapse of leprosy is acceptably low and has not yet become a serious clinical or public health problem but, based upon the incubation of relapse in MDT patients, it is necessary to encourage annual follow up for at least 5 years for paucibacillary (PB) and 10 years for MB patients after being released from WHO/MDT.
PY - 1999 SP - 379 EP - 87 T2 - International journal of leprosy and other mycobacterial diseases : official organ of the International Leprosy Association TI - Studies on risk of leprosy relapses in China: relapses after treatment with multidrug therapy. UR - http://ila.ilsl.br/pdfs/v67n4a02.pdf VL - 67 SN - 0148-916X ER -