The diagnosis and treatment of leprosy

Leprosy is a complex disease, but recent research and the Ridley-Jopling classification which emphasize its immunologic aspects have greatly aided our understanding of and approach to the problem. The diagnosis should be considered whenever skin lesions and sensory loss occur. Dapsone remains the treatment of choice, but several newer drugs show great promise, especially in those cases whose bacilli have become sulfone resistant. Immunotherapy may play an increasingly prominent role in the future. Reactive episodes continue to be a serious complication, but the availability of thalidomide to control erythema nodosum leprosum has markedly improved the prognosis. Physicians of the US Public Health Service Hospital at Carville, Louisiana, are available at all times for consultation on these and other matters related to leprosy.