OBJECTIVES: We aim to characterize the profile of patients diagnosed with leprosy relapse and understand the influence of different multidrug therapy (MDT) treatments and initial disease presentation.
METHODS: This retrospective study included patients diagnosed with leprosy relapse at a referral center in Brazil from 2013-2018. We analyzed their clinical-epidemiological characteristics, laboratory, and bacilloscopic tests. Survival analysis was used to determine the time elapsed until relapse, according to the previous treatment and the disease clinical forms.
RESULTS: 126 cases of relapse were analyzed, which comprised 11.89% (126/1059) of the cases. The median time elapsed until relapse was 10 years, and most patients had previously undergone 12 doses of MDT (40.48%; 51/126). Undergoing 24 doses of MDT was associated with a better prognosis regarding relapse over time compared to six or 12 doses of MDT therapy. Most of the cases of relapse were classified as multibacillary (96.03%; 121/126).
CONCLUSION: The incidence of relapse was greater than observed in other studies. The high percentage of multibacillary patients who had negative bacillary indices demonstrated that the bacillary index cannot be considered to be an essential criterion for relapse, especially with regard to making an early diagnosis.
}, year = {2022}, journal = {International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases}, month = {01/2022}, issn = {1878-3511}, url = {https://www.ijidonline.com/action/showPdf?pii=S1201-9712%2822%2900010-8}, doi = {10.1016/j.ijid.2022.01.009}, language = {eng}, }