Bacillary Index

 

Leprosy Mailing List – March 11,  2013 

Ref.:   (LML) Bacillary Index

From:  Nora Cardona Castro, Sabaneta, Colombia

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Dear Dr. Pieter,

 

The National Institute of Health in Colombia (Instituto Nacional de Salud) is trying to put into practice the Bacillary Index (BI) following the WHO scale. Here in Colombia we use another scale similar to TB: being the lower BI=0 and the higher 3,0. This scale has been used for more than 30 years, showing several problems with respect to comparison of Colombian data with the other endemic regions, difficulties with the follow up of the patients, problems with the relapse classification, etc. 

According to WHO the BI is calculated examining 6 to 8 samples:

1+ At least 1 bacillus in every 100 field

2+ At least 1 bacillus in every 10 fields.

·          3+ At least 1 bacillus in every field.

·          4+ At least 10 bacilli in every field.

·          5+ At least 100 bacilli in every field.

·          6+ At least 1000 bacilli in every field.

·          http://www.who.int/lep/microbiology/en/index.html

 

The interpretation of this scale had been generated confusion about the follow aspects:

-The nasal swab is included?

-The BI is a mean of the number of + found in all the fields?

-The BI is choice according the highest + in anyone sample? 

I appreciate if you can help us with these questions.

 

Best regards,

 

Nora Cardona Castro, MD MSc Investigadora Prof Asociada

Instituto Colombiano de Medicina Tropical - Universidad CES

Carrera 43A # 52 Sur 99  Sabaneta, Colombia

Tel: (57) (4) 3053500 ext 2297 | Fax: (57) (4) 3014258

ncardona@ces.edu.co | www.ces.edu.co

 

 

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