ABSTRACT
A study was carried out from June 1999 to June 2001 to assess the impact of fixed duration multidrug therapy (FD-MDT) in newly detected cases of leprosy in terms of clinical and neurological improvement and changes in the bacillary index of skin smear for AFB. 200 new leprosy cases (both PB & MB) were started on FD-MDT. Of these 200 cases, 16 were of pure neuritic leprosy. After treatment, out of 184 cases with typical skin lesions of leprosy, all 26 PB cases showed inactivity of skin lesions, and, of the remaining 158 MB cases, 40.5% showed inactivity and 59.5% showed complete resolution of skin lesions. Out of 68 skin smear-positive cases, 42 cases with a BI of < or = 3 became smear-negative, while others showed gradual fall in the BI. Such heavily bacilliferous cases were continued with treatment for 1 more year to prevent relapse. As FD-MDT alone does not cure established sensory and motor impairment, it did not show any change in 19% of the patients presented with permanent sensory motor disturbance. FD-MDT prevents progression of sensory/motor disturbance.