Emergence and Transmission of Drug-/Multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium leprae in a Former Leprosy Colony in the Brazilian Amazon.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Leprosy has been treated with multidrug therapy, which has been distributed for free across the globe and regarded as highly efficient. However, the impossibility of growing Mycobacterium leprae in axenic media has historically impaired assessments of M. leprae resistance, a parameter only recently detectable through molecular methods.

Methods

A systematic, population-based search for M. leprae resistance in suspected leprosy relapse cases and contacts was performed in Prata Village, an isolated, hyperendemic, former leprosy colony located in the Brazilian Amazon. Results led to an extended active search involving the entire Prata population. Confirmed leprosy cases were investigated for bacterial resistance using a combination of in vivo testing and direct sequen

SUBMITTER: Rosa PS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7201420 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature