Leprosy
Mailing List – May 16th, 2010
Ref.: Reactions
after stopping Multi-drug Therapy
From: R
Ganapati, V V Pai and M Shinde,
Mumbai
,
India
Dear
Dr Noto,
We
invite the attention of LML readers on the exchange of views on the
role of clofazimine in preventing leprosy reactions after completion
of fixed duration multi-drug therapy (FDT) with 24 and 12 months.
An analysis on a large scale on the pattern of reactions in
2.307 leprosy patients attending Bombay Leprosy Project since 1981 is
in progress.
We
present our preliminary observations focused only on reactions after
termination of treatment with FDT-24 months and FDT-12 months. Those
who presented with reactions before treatment were excluded.
The statistics relating to the reactions encountered during the
course of treatment were not considered for this particular analysis,
as the object was to see if there is an advantage of clofazimine, if
administered for a longer period.
Reactions
after termination of treatment
FDT-
24 Months
|
No.
of pts
|
Reactions
|
|
|
No.
|
%
|
|
493
|
5
|
1.0
|
FDT-
12 Months
|
No.
of pts
|
Reactions
|
|
|
No.
|
%
|
|
1757
|
60
|
3.4
|
The
greater proportion of reactions in the group not receiving clofazimine
for a longer period may be ascribable to the non-availability of the
reaction-suppressing effect of this drug.
Most of the reactions were observed within a year of stopping
treatment.
Regards,
Dr
R Ganapati, Dr VV Pai and Mahendra Shinde,
Bombay
Leprosy Project
