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S. Ahmed Zaheer, Rama Mukherjee, Deena Ramkumar, Radhey S. Misra, Amar K. Sharma, Hemant K. Kar, Harvinder Kaur, Sreekumaran Nair, Ashok Mukherjee, Gursaran P. Talwar, Combined Multidrug and Mycobacterium w Vaccine Therapy in Patients with Multibacillary Leprosy, The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Volume 167, Issue 2, February 1993, Pages 401–410, https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/167.2.401
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Abstract
Immunotherapy with Mycobacterium w vaccine was attempted in patients with borderline-borderline, borderline lepromatous (BL), or lepromatous leprosy (LL) to determine whether immunization can hasten recovery and reduce treatment time by invigorating cell-mediated immunity. Mycobacterium w, a nonpathogenic, rapidly growing, atypical mycobacterium, shares a number of common Band T cell determinants with Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Patients receiving the vaccine had rapid clinical improvement and accelerated bacteriologic clearance. After treatment with vaccine for 2 years, 13 of 31 BL and LL patients were bacteriologically negative as were 5 of 25 controls. Vaccinated patients had one of two distinct histologic features, either an upgrading in the disease spectrum or complete clearance of granuloma. Some 80% of lepromin conversions were in BL and LL patients who received vaccine versus none and 14.3% of BL and LL controls, respectively. Thirteen of 17 vaccinated LL patients were released from treatment after 2 years in contrast to 2 of 15 controls.