This study sought to verify the correlation between
leprosy types and the
adverse effects of
treatment drugs. This quantitative, prospective, nested study was developed at the
Dona Libânia
Dermatology Centre in Fortaleza,
Brazil. Data were collected from November 2007-November 2008. During this period, 818
leprosy patients were diagnosed and began
treatment. Forty
patients with
tuberculoid leprosy (TT) were selected. Twenty
patients followed a standard
therapy of
dapsone and
rifampicin and 20 were administered
dapsone,
rifampicin and
clofazimine (U-MDT). Twenty
patients with
borderline lepromatous (BL) and
lepromatous leprosy (LL) were also selected and treated with U-MDT. All of the subjects received six doses. With the exception of
haemolytic anaemia, there was a low
incidence of
adverse effects in all the groups. We did not observe any differences in the
incidence of
haemolytic anaemia or other side effects across groups of
patients with TT, BL or LL treated with U-MDT.