Leprosy - Treatment
Dapsone is the first effective drug against leprosy but the bacteria developed resistance against the drug. Hence in 1970s the scenario shifted from monotherapy to Multiple Drug Therapy (MDT). The drugs used in WHO-MDT are a combination of rifampicin (600mg once a month), clofazimine (300 mg once a month and 50mg daily) and dapsone (100mg daily) for one year for Multibacillary (MB) leprosy patients and rifampicin (600mg once a month),and dapsone (100mg daily) for six months for Paucibacillary leprosy patients. For single skin Paucibacillary lesion single dose of
Rifampicin: 600 mg, Ofloxacin: 400 mg,and Minocycline: 100 mg is given. A minimum follow-up of 5 years is needed after completion of therapy in Multibacillary leprosy and a follow-up of 2 years in case of Puacibacillary cases.MDT is available free of cost from WHO.
