一、引言麻风杆菌目前仍是不能培养的极少数人类的病原菌之一。估计全世界约有1300万人罹患麻风,但该病流行性甚小,在流行地区亦很少超过1～5％。麻风于上世纪末在欧洲消失,而近来在一些发展中国家却有增加的趋势,其原因尚不清楚。最近出现的原发和继发性耐药菌至少是一种起作用的因素,因此须推荐联合化疗。从免疫学角度研究麻风,是由于此病临床征象具有免疫学基础,并很有可能揭示人体的免疫调节机理。已知麻风杆菌能在鼠足垫及犰狳中生长,最近发现还可在长尾猴中生长,而流行病学资料提示,动物与人之间没有明显的传播性。可以期望用一种有效的抗麻风疫苗,如同天花一样,在地球上彻底消灭麻风。 I. Introduction Leprosy is still one of the few human pathogens that can not be cultivated at present. About 13 million people worldwide are estimated to have leprosy, but the disease is very infrequent and seldom exceeds 1 to 5% in endemic areas. The leprosy disappeared in Europe at the end of the last century, and the recent trend in some developing countries has been increasing. The reasons for this are unclear. The recent emergence of primary and secondary drug-resistant bacteria is at least a contributing factor and should be recommended for combination chemotherapy. Leprosy from the immunological point of view, is due to the clinical signs of the disease has an immunological basis, and is likely to reveal the body’s immune regulatory mechanism. Leprosy is known to grow in mouse footcocks and armadillos, and it has recently been found that it can grow in long-tailed macaques. Epidemiological data suggest no significant transmission between animals and humans. One could expect to have an effective anti-leprosy vaccine, like a smallpox, to eradicate leprosy completely on the planet.