Short-term follow up of patients with multibacillary leprosy and HIV infection.

During a period of 9 years, four male patients with HIV and Hansen's disease were detected in Tamil Nadu, South India. The sequence as to which infection came first is not known. All had high-risk sexual behavior with commercial sex workers and a past history of genital ulcer disease. Their spectrum of leprosy was multibacillary. Patient no. 1 had pure neural leprosy of the lepromatous type, which is rare. He also had a single episode of type 1 reaction which did not require steroid therapy. Despite having taken inadequate treatment, patient no. 2 remained clinically and bacteriologically quiescent after 4 years of follow up. He had a low CD4 count of 330 cells/mm3. The third patient completed a full course of multibacillary multidrug therapy, and a year later is clinically and bacteriologically inactive. The fourth patient died of AIDS within 2 months of the dual diagnosis.