Fite's modification of the acid fast stain reveals single thin short red rods of M. leprae, as well as some clusters of organisms in macrophages. In the tuberculoid form, acid fast organisms are hard to find, but in the lepromatous form, there are macrophages filled with numerous acid fast bacilli ("globi"). Seen here is the "borderline" form with some organisms and some epithelioid cells. It is now possible to control leprosy with drug therapy (rifampin as a first-line drug and dapsone second).

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