Rapid and simple detection method of drug resistance bacteria is required. In the present study, Hp-rPCR (hairpin primer-real time PCR) was applied to Mycobacterium leprae genes to detect mutations. Target sites of the method were as follows: first base and second base on 53^rd codon and second base on 55^th codon in folP1 gene for dapsone resistance, first base on 441^st codon and 451^st codon and second base on 456^th and 458^th codon in rpoB gene for rifampicin resistance, and first base on 89^th codon and second base on 91^st codon in gyrA gene for quinolone resistance which were common mutation sites in clinical reports. The total number of the target sites was 9. Mycobacterium leprae, Thai-53, Zensho-2 and Zensho-4 were used as reference bacteria in the present study and clear, reliable results were obtained. Double-blind study was conducted using 15 samples. The number of target sites was calculated as 135 in total by 9 sites in 15 samples. There was only one misreading in the blind samples and the sensitivity was more than 99%.

  In 2012 the WHO Expert Committee on Leprosy published its 8th report, 14 years after the publication of its 7th report in 1998. This report, the first since the leprosy reduction goal was met in 2000, highlights key points such as improvements in the quality of various services available to patients and the efforts of individuals and societies, in addition to medical progress in diagnosis and treatment. This review will mainly describe the changes made since the 7th report. Some of the main modifications are the deletion of single lesion paucibacillary type, elongated treatment of patients with high bacterial indices, the introduction of promising new drugs, and a shift from reducing the statistical number of patients to a new target for disability prevention.