Efficacy and safety of rifampicin associated with bacillus Calmette-Guérin in the prevention of Leprosy in household contacts: systematic review and randomized clinical trials

• Grant number: 15/17907-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2015
• End date: November 30, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Regina Paolucci El Dib
• Grantee: William Yang Chen Fan
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FMB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Leprosy is an infectious chronic disease that can cause damage especially to the skin and peripheral nerves as loss of sensation and muscle strength which can lead to secondary deformities like eye deficiency, hands and feet. The power transmission is by means of non-treated patients. The leprosy still persists in developing countries like India, Indonesia and even in Brazil. In developed countries, leprosy has been eliminated, there is thus a risk to public health. A prevention strategies is the use of bacillus Calmette & Guerin (BCG) immunotherapy that is initially indicated by the WHO for the prevention of tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium leprae closely related to Mycobacterium. Their protective effect has been suggested in several studies, ranging from 20 to 90%. The vaccine offered greater protection against multibacillary, which featured an aid in the class responsible for transmitting the disease. The use of BCG was given to household contacts to be the biggest risk for acquiring the disease. Thus, this project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of rifampicin associated with BCG compared to no intervention, placebo or just isolated BCG in contacts of leprosy patients to prevent disease transmission. The research project will be conducted in the Department of Anesthesiology and Medicine Unit of Evidence Based FMB / UNESP. A systematic review will be conducted. The following databases will be searched: PubMed, CENTRAL (the Cochrane Library), Embase and Lilacs. The analysis and data collection will be performed by two reviewers independently that will select potential studies.