title: Bacteriological results and leprosy reactions among MB leprosy patients treated with uniform multidrug therapy in China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the changes of bacteriological index and leprosy reactions among Multi-bacillary (MB) patients treated with uniform multi-drug therapy (UMDT).
  
  
  METHODS
  Newly diagnosed leprosy patients were recruited after taking informed consent in three districts in Guizhou Province and one district in Yunnan Province China during November 2003 to June 2005 and were treated with Uniform Multidrug Therapy. All patients were followed up once a year for 3 years after completion of treatment. All data on bacteriological index (BI) and the frequencies of leprosy reaction were collected and analysed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 166 patients were recruited for UMDT trial. Among them 114 patients had positive BI smear, and 83 patients had been followed up for 42 months. The mean BI of 83 patients decreased from 2.84 before treatment to 0.33 at the end of 42 months follow-up. At the end of this period, 61 patients (73.5%) had become BI negative. There were 13 (14.6%) patients who had a Type I reaction during 24 months of follow-up. One patient in the study group relapsed 13 months after stopping treatment of the UMDT.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was a significant decrease in the mean BI and 73.5% of patients treated with UMDT became BI negative during 3 years' follow-up. The frequency of Type I reaction seemed a little higher among patients treated with UMDT, but the numbers of patients enrolled were too few to determine statistical significance. Future studies on U-MDT should also study Type I reactions in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Leprosy Control, Institute of Dermatology, CAMS, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, PR China. jianping_shen2@yahoo.com.cn
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Nagaraju
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bathyala
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kroeger
authors.forename: Byron
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Arana
authors.forename: Vijay
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pannikar
authors.forename: Hongjiang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mou
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Rongde
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Manickam
authors.forename: Wenzhong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Want
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004893:Erythema Nodosum / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000209:etiology*; D007917:Leprostatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015440:Leprosy, Lepromatous / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D007917:Leprostatic Agents