By ULY CLINIC

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General treatment of leprosy 

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Introduction

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Leprosy is a chronic granulomatous disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. It mainly affects the skin, the peripheral nerves and the mucous membranes. Leprosy is the commonest cause of peripheral neuritis in the world. 

 

Diagnostic Criteria 

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• Hypo pigmented anaesthetic macula or nodular and erythematous skin lesions

• Nerve thickening. 

• Burning sensations in the skin 

• Numbness and tingling of the feet and/or hands

• Weakness of eyelids, hands or feet

• Painless swellings or lumps in the face and earlobes

• Painless wounds or burns on the hands or feet 

• Presence of any one among the three cardinal signs of leprosy below:

• Skin patch with loss of sensation

• One or more enlarged peripheral nerves

• Presence of leprosy bacilli–positive smear  

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Classification of Leprosy 

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Multibacillary (MB) Leprosy 

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• Patients with six or more leprosy skin lesions 

• Positive skin smear   

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Paucibacillary (PB) Leprosy 

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• Patients with one to five leprosy skin lesions  

• Negative skin smear  

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Note: If there is any doubt regarding the classification, the patient should be classified and treated as a multi-bacillary case

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Pharmacological Treatment

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Patients should be treated by multidrug combination therapy; dosage may depend with classification and whether patient is adult or children 

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Treatment of Leprosy