Mycobacterium leprae cannot be grown in a standard laboratory culture. Therefore, diagnosis relies heavily on identifying the bacteria directly from tissue. The “Slit-Skin” technique involves taking small samples from several sites on the body—usually where the bacteria are most likely to congregate—and staining them with a specialized Ziehl-Neelsen stain. Under a microscope, the bacilli appear as bright red, rod-shaped structures.
₹300.00