Research in leprosy. A report of a committee set up by the medical research council to study future prospects.

Recommendations for future research in leprosy include (i) cultivation of M. leprae in vitro; (ii) genetic control of susceptibility, including twin studies and HLA typing; (iii) precise antigenic analysis of M. leprae; (iv) mechanisms involved in the macrophage response to mycobacterial infections; (v) more use of experimental models such as normal mice infected with M. lepraemurium; (vi) reassessment of the protection afforded by BCG; (vii) assessment of protection afforded by killed (armadillo) M. leprae vaccine; (viii) pathogenesis of erythema nodosum leprosum including a study of the effect of thalidomide; and (ix) development of in vitro systems for drug sensitivity testing.