Does sulphone therapy in leprous mothers affect their offspring? Observations among 167 newborns at the tala leprosarium nursery

ABSTRACT

Blood studies were performed on a total of 167 newborn offsprings of leprous mothers on sulfone therapy during the first seven to eight months of pregnancy. These studies were repeated periodically at weekly intervals up to the age of 6 months. Concomitantly, blood sulfone level determinations were done on both mother and the newborn infantAnemia was found to be a consistent finding in 92.5% of the infants. However, after taking into consideration the prenatal history of the mothers under study, and after comparing these blood pictures with those of newborn infants of supposedly normal mothers who have never received sulfone therapy, it may be concluded that sulfone therapy to pregnant leprous women does not cause deleterious effects on the blood of their offspringThe drug apparently does not have teratogenic effects. (Summary and Conclusions)