Question

In leprosy, a duration of 2 years is relevant with regard to which of the following?

• A. Treatment of paucibacillary leprosy
• B. Treatment of multibacillary leprosy
• C. Post-treatment surveillance of paucibacillary leprosy
• D. Post-treatment surveillance of multibacillary leprosy

Hint:

Treatment is months; the 2 years is the watch-for-relapse phase after a short PB course.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Leprosy management has two phases, the multidrug treatment phase and the surveillance phase that follows once treatment is completed.

Step 2: Treatment durations under WHO multidrug therapy are 6 months for paucibacillary leprosy and 12 months for multibacillary leprosy, so the 2-year figure does not match either treatment course.

Step 3: The 2-year period refers to post-treatment surveillance of paucibacillary leprosy. After the 6-month course, paucibacillary cases are kept under surveillance for 2 years to detect relapse.

Step 4: For comparison, multibacillary leprosy is followed up for a longer period of about 5 years after its 12-month treatment. Hence 2 years corresponds to post-treatment surveillance of paucibacillary leprosy.