Five Things to Know About Leprosy

by Alanna Shaikh · 2009-06-23 11:56:00 UTC
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(photo credit: amanderson2)

Admit it, you woke up this morning thinking about leprosy. It was that picture Michael Keizer used in his post. Luckily, I am psychic and have your information ready. In a nutshell, it's a really gross disease, and we're doing a good job of eliminating it.

1.        The global registered prevalence of leprosy at the beginning of 2008 stood at 212,802 cases. That numbers gets lower every year.  Leprosy has been eliminated in most countries, but can still be found in Angola, Brazil, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nepal, and the United Republic of Tanzania. 1-2 million people are currently disabled as a result of leprosy. reference

2.       Leprosy is a bacterial infection, and easily treated through antibiotic combination therapy. The main drug in the therapy is rifampicin, which is also used to treat tuberculosis.  Treatment with only one drug will always lead to resistance, so the combo therapy is mandatory for good care. reference

3.       Leprosy is also known as Hansen's disease. I have no idea why. reference

4.       It's not highly infectious. It can spread through close contact, although the precise mechanism is still unknown. The most widely held theory is that it spreads through aerosolized droplets from coughing or sneezing, but that is unproven.  reference

5.       Historically, people with leprosy have been confined to leper colonies. It's not a logical response to the illness, since it isn't highly contagious (see above), but fear and hatred of leprosy and people with the disease dates back to the Biblical times. reference

Alanna Shaikh
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