Primary dapsone resistance in Bamako and Chingleput: final report; THELEP

Abstract

Approximately 37% of the 131 patients with lepromatous leprosy admitted into the THELEP controlled clinical trials in Bamako and Chingleput, whose Myobacterium leprae obtained from pretreatment biopsy specimens could be tested in mice, have been found to harbour dapsone-resistant organisms, and are though to represent instances of primary resistance to dapsone. The majority of these patients harboured strains of a low degree of resistance, one-fifth of these patients harboured organisms of an intermediated resistance, and no patient was found to harbour M. leprae of a high degree of resistance. No relationships were discerned between patient age, number of M. leprae, or disease classification on one hand, and primary resistance to dapsone on the other.