Bacteremia in leprosy

Authors

  • Raghavendra Rao
  • Vijay Mohan
  • Shrutakirthi. D. Shenoi

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.66344/jpad.17.1.2007.678

Keywords:

Bacteremia, leprosy.

Abstract

Background Leprosy can infect many tissues besides peripheral nerves and skin. Mycobacterium leprae can occasionally invade blood stream. Objectives The aim of the study was to determine the frequency of bacteremia in leprosy patients. Patients and methods Buffy coat smears and smears from peripheral blood samples and slit-skin smears of 20 patients with Hansen’s disease (6 with lepromatous, 8 with borderline lepromatous, and 3 each with borderline tuberculoid and pure neuritic leprosy) were stained with Ziehl-Neelsen method for acid-fast bacilli. Results Out of 20 patients, slit-skin smears were positive in 10 patients (5 each with lepromatous and borderline lepromatous leprosy) while buffy coat smears and blood smears were positive in 2 and 1 patients of lepromatous leprosy, respectively.  Conclusion Bacteremia rarely occurs in leprosy. 

References

Drutz DJ, Chen TSN, Lu WH. The continuous bacteremia of lepromatous leprosy. N Engl J Med 1972; 287: 159-64.

Sreevatsa, Sengupta U, Ramu G, Desikan KV. Evaluation of bacteremia in leprosy patients. Lepr India 1978; 50: 381-7.

Padma MN, Desikan KV. Bacillaemia in leprosy. Indian J Med Res 1975; 63: 888-92.

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Published

2016-12-28

How to Cite

1.
Rao R, Mohan V, Shenoi SD. Bacteremia in leprosy. J Pak Assoc Dermatol [Internet]. 2016Dec.28 [cited 2026Apr.12];17(1):14-5. Available from: https://www.jpad.com.pk/index.php/jpad/article/view/678

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 1 (2007): January - March

Section

Original Articles

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Authors retain the copyright to their work and grant the 'Journal of Pakistan Association of Dermatologists (JPAD)' the right of first publication under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. This license allows others to share, adapt, and reuse the work for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as appropriate credit is given to the original authors and the journal.

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