PRIMARY AND SECONDARY DAPSONE RESISTANCE OF MYCOBACTERIUM-LEPRAE IN MARTINIQUE, GUADELOUPE, NEW-CALEDONIA, TAHITI, SENEGAL, AND PARIS BETWEEN 1980 AND 1985

  • 1 December 1987
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 55  (4) , 672-679
Abstract
Primary and secondary dapsone rsistance were studied among lepromatous patients living in Martinique, Guadeloupe, New Caledonia, Tahiti, Senegal, and Paris. Four hundred fifteen biopsies were taken from clinically active and bacteriologically positive (bacterial index > 2) patients in the 6-year period of 1980-1985. Among these, 280 biopsies that contained 5 .times. 104 acid-fast bacilli per ml with a morphological index of at least 0.10 were inoculated into the mouse food pad, and 229 harbored infective Mycobacterium leprae. Among the 129 infective M. leprae isolated from new cases, 54% had some degree of dapsone resistance, a low degree being prominent in all cases. Among the 100 infective M. leprae isolated from relapsed cases, 79% had a high or an intermediate degree of dapsone resistance. The annual incidence of secondary dapsone resistance was estimated to be about 0.55% in Guadeloupe.