The Effect of a Single Dose of Rifampicin on the Infectivity of the Nasal Discharge in Leprosy (Preliminary Communication)

Abstract

This study was undertaken in London (Rees) and DichpalJi, Tndia (Hogerzeil). Twenty-four hour nose blows before and after a single dose of rifampicin, 30 mg per kg body weight, were sent on ice from Dichpalli to London for inoculation into mouse fo otpads. The fi nal results fro m mice are not yet available, but total counts and morphology of Myco. leprae from the nasal discharges before and after rifampicin suggest that within 4 days of a single dose of rifampicin the infectivity of patients was considerably red uced.