Fig 1.
Study population screening flowchart and geographic distribution of enrolled cohorts.
(a) Flow diagram of participant screening and enrollment (exclusion criteria detailed in Methods). (b) Geographic distribution of enrolled participants. The base layer is from https://www.webmap.cn/mapDataAction.do?method=forw&resType=5&storeId=2&storeName=%E5%9B%BD%E5%AE%B6%E5%9F%BA%E7%A1%80%E5%9C%B0%E7%90%86%E4%BF%A1%E6%81%AF%E4%B8%AD%E5%BF%83&fileId=BA420C422A254198BAA5ABAB9CAAFBC1 with credit to National Catalogue Service For Geographic Information.
Table 1.
Baseline characteristics and treatment status of patients in alternative and standard multidrug therapy (MDT) groups.
Fig 2.
Comparison of cure rates and treatment durations between therapeutic regimens.
(a) Annual cure rates for multibacillary (MB) leprosy patients comparing alternative therapy group with the standard MDT group. Values in data labels represent percentages (see Y-axis); the ‘%’ symbol is omitted for clarity. (b, c) Annual cure rates stratified by initial bacterial index (aBI; < 4 vs. ≥ 4). Cure rates were compared using Pearson χ² tests. (d) Mean treatment duration for all completers comparing alternative group with standard MDT (Overall). (e, f) Mean treatment duration for all completers comparing alternative group with standard MDT, stratified by aBI. Bar heights represent means, with error bars indicating standard deviations (SD). P values were calculated using two-sample t-tests.
Fig 3.
Treatment group comparisons: annual bacterial index (BI) decrease and smear negativity rates.
(a) Mean rate of bacterial index (BI) decline from baseline to follow-up for alternative group and standard multidrug therapy (MDT). Two extreme values were excluded from analysis. Annual cohort sizes are annotated at data points. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals. Fitting curves were generated using polynomial regression. (b, c) Mean rate of BI decline for alternative group and standard MDT, stratified by initial BI (aBI). (d) Annual smear negativity rates for multibacillary (MB) leprosy patients comparing alternative group and standard MDT (overall cohort). Values in data labels represent percentages (see Y-axis); the ‘%’ symbol is omitted for clarity. (e, f) Annual smear negativity rates for MB leprosy patients comparing alternative group and standard MDT, stratified by aBI.
Table 2.
Relapse rates during follow-up in the alternative therapy vs. the MDT group.
Fig 4.
Kaplan-Meier survival curves of reaction-free multibacillary (MB) leprosy patients.
(a) Comparison of reaction-free survival between alternative group and standard multidrug therapy (MDT). (b) Comparison of reaction-free survival between alternative group and standard MDT, stratified by initial bacterial index (aBI).
Fig 5.
Cumulative proportion without disability progression in multibacillary (MB) leprosy patients.
(a) Comparison between alternative group and standard multidrug therapy (MDT). (b) Comparison between alternative group and standard MDT, stratified by initial bacterial index (aBI).
Table 3.
Adverse drug reactions in leprosy patients receiving alternative vs. standard multidrug therapy.