No reliable test capable of predicting the risk for DHS has yet been reported; however, we recently identified a genetic allele, HLA-B*13:01, that is significantly associated with DHS among patients with leprosy.14 The HLA-B*13:01 allele sensitively and specifically predicted DHS (85.5% and 85.7%, respectively), and its absence was associated with a 7-fold reduced risk (from 1.4% to 0.2%). This evidence concerns the gene HLA-B and leprosy.