Bacillaemia in leprosy: correlation with slit-skin and nasal smears.

: Twenty five multibacillary patients (BL/LL) were studied for bacillaemia. Majority (76%) showed acid fast bacilli in peripheral blood. There was good correlation between bacillary load in peripheral blood and bacteriological index (BI) but poor correlation with morphological index (MI) of skin slit smear and BI/MI of nasal smear.