02159nas a2200385   4500000000100000008004100001260001600042653001500058653001000073653000900083653001000092653002900102653001200131653003000143653001100173653001100184653001200195653000900207653001200216653001600228653002200244653001300266100001700279700001800296700001700314700001200331700001400343700001800357700001600375245009200391300001300483490000600496520125700502022001401759       1982                            d  c1982 May 2910aAdolescent10aAdult10aAged10aChild10aClinical Trials as Topic10aDapsone10aDrug Therapy, Combination10aFemale10aHumans10aleprosy10aMale10aMethods10aMiddle Aged10aRandom Allocation10aRifampin1 aYawalkar S J1 aMcDougall A C1 aLanguillon J1 aGhosh S1 aHajra S K1 aOpromolla D V1 aTonello C J00aOnce-monthly rifampicin plus daily dapsone in initial treatment of lepromatous leprosy.  a1199-2020 v13 a<p>In an international multicentre controlled single-blind trial of 93 previously untreated lepromatous leprosy patients the therapeutic effects of adding rifampicin, 450 mg/day orally or 1,200 mg once monthly in a single oral dose, to dapsone (50 mg/day orally) for the first 6 months of treatment were compared. Clinical and histopathological improvements and bacteriological regression, indicated by the decreases in the bacterial and morphological indices of the skin and nose-blow smears, were satisfactory and practically identical after 6 months' treatment. The once-monthly rifampicin schedule was better tolerated than the daily one. In view of the good therapeutic efficacy and tolerability, the much lower cost of treatment (about one-tenth of that of the daily rifampicin regimen) and the possibility of administration under supervision, once-monthly rifampicin given in a single oral 1,200 mg dose should be recommended, along with a standard dapsone regimen, for large-scale, initial, and intensive combination treatment of patients with lepromatous and borderline-lepromatous leprosy, to help prevent an increase in dapsone resistance. A third antileprosy drug (e.g., clofazimine) may be added to this initial dual-treatment regimen.</p>  a0140-6736