Soares D J, Neupane K, Britton W J
Anadaban Leprosy Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Lepr Rev. 1995 Sep;66(3):210-3. doi: 10.5935/0305-7518.19950022.
Many leprosy patients treated with multidrug therapy (MDT) had previously received dapsone (DDS) monotherapy for many years. We report here 2 such patients treated with modified paucibacillary MDT composed of rifampicin and DDS who subsequently relapsed with multibacillary leprosy 5 and 6 years after release from treatment. Isolates of Mycobacterium leprae from both patients were resistant to DDS but sensitive to rifampicin, suggesting that the relapses were caused by rifampicin sensitive 'persister' organisms. The implications of this for surveillance of patients released from treatment (RFT) and the management of relapsed patients is discussed.
许多接受多药联合疗法（MDT）治疗的麻风病患者此前曾接受多年的氨苯砜（DDS）单药治疗。我们在此报告2例接受由利福平与DDS组成的改良少菌型MDT治疗的患者，他们在停止治疗后5年和6年分别复发为多菌型麻风病。两名患者的麻风分枝杆菌分离株对DDS耐药，但对利福平敏感，这表明复发是由对利福平敏感的“持留菌”引起的。本文讨论了这一情况对治疗后出院患者（RFT）监测及复发患者管理的意义。
