Multidrug therapy in leprosy can prevent relapse--a retrospective study.

A retrospective study was done at the Leprosy Control Unit (LCU) in Durgapur of Burdwan district, West Bengal, to determine the relapse rate following multidrug therapy (MDT). A total of 1581 patients (1276 PB and 305 MB) completed MDT regimens during a period of 5 years as per WHO recommendations and National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP) guidelines. The treated patients were kept under surveillance as per NLEP guidelines and searched for relapses. The results of MDT were compared with those of pre-MDT (monotherapy) era at the same centre (total: 405 patients; PB-373, MB-32) and also with those of the Leprosy Clinic in Gopalpur (only dapsone was given to a total of 189 patients, PB-167, MB-22). Following monotherapy, the relapse rate was 10.06% at the Gopalpur Leprosy Clinic and 12.4% at the Durgapur LCU during the 2 years (PB) and 5 years (MB) of surveillance, whereas following MDT no relapse case was encountered both in PB and MB cases during the surveillance periods recommended by WHO. The results of this study are comparable with those of other studies. Though a few studies showed relapses during long-term surveillance beyond the periods recommended by WHO, it is once again established that MDT can prevent relapse in leprosy.