Ofloxacin resistance in multibacillary new leprosy cases from Purulia, West Bengal: a threat to effective secondary line treatment for rifampicin-resistant leprosy cases.

Objectives: Purulia is one of the high-endemic districts for leprosy in West Bengal (the eastern part of India). The annual new case detection rate (ANCDR) of leprosy in West Bengal is 6.04/100000 (DGHS 2019-20).

Case Report: Multidrug-Resistant in a Case of Smear-Negative Relapse.

The ongoing transmission of leprosy in India is worrisome, and emerging drug resistance may be one of the factors responsible for the continued transmission of leprosy in India. Emerging cases of multidrug-resistant pose a great threat to eradication of leprosy and must be addressed with utmost priority. We report a case of multidrug-resistant in a case of relapse where slit skin smear (SSS) was negative and histopathology was inconclusive.

Multidrug resistance as a cause of steroid-nonresponsive downgrading type I reaction in Hansen's disease.

While Type 1 reaction in Hansen's disease is commonly encountered, the triggers and reasons for its persistence are not well understood even though the immunological milieu and cytokine interplay have been studied. Herein, we present a case of Type 1 downgrading reaction in which multidrug resistance was the probable cause of steroid-nonresponsiveness and which responded promptly on starting alternate antileprosy treatment.

Utility of multiplex PCR for early diagnosis and household contact surveillance for leprosy.

Early diagnosis of leprosy is important for limiting the severity of disease, which may lead to disabilities and deformities if not treated timely. Multiplex PCR employing more than one gene, specific to target DNA, is more efficient detection tool. In the present study, slit skin scrapings, blood, nasal swabs and saliva from Paucibacillary (PB) and Multibacillary (MB) cases as well as household contacts of PB cases were tested by multiplex PCR using three different gene targets namely RLEP, 16SrRNA and sodA.

VDR polymorphism, gene expression and vitamin D levels in leprosy patients from North Indian population.

Background: Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae and mainly affects skin, peripheral nerves. Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphism has been found to be associated with leprosy. Vitamin D has been shown to control several host immunomodulating properties through VDR gene.

Enriched whole genome sequencing identified compensatory mutations in the RNA polymerase gene of rifampicin-resistant strains.

Despite more than three decades of multidrug therapy (MDT), leprosy remains a major public health issue in several endemic countries, including India. The emergence of drug resistance in is a cause of concern and poses a threat to the leprosy-control program, which might ultimately dampen the achievement of the elimination program of the country. Rifampicin resistance in clinical strains of are supposed to arise from harboring bacterial strains with mutations in the 81-bp rifampicin resistance determining region (RRDR) of the gene.