Immunotherapeutic potential of ICRC vaccine: a case control study.

A bacteriological follow-up of 16 lepromatous patients with a high initial Bacteriological Index (BI) showed that in 8 randomly selected patients who received single doses of ICRC Vaccine (C44) at the onset of multidrug therapy, the average reduction of BI was from 4.4+ to 1+ in 2 years--3 of these patients became negative and 3 showed BI 1+ or less. Comparable bacteriological assessments in 8 non-vaccinated but otherwise similar patients showed an average reduction of BI from 4.7+ to 2.6+, i.e. consistent with the expected response to MDT in lepromatous patients. Here we discuss the role of immunotherapy and the selection of a desirable antileprosy vaccine in the context of fixed-duration MDT.