Out of all the diseases that exist today, one of them has always been considered a It did not kill people, nor did it seem to end. In biblical times, thepeople with this disease were forsaken from the community and required to call outunclean, unclean. This disease, Leprosy, also known as Hansens Disease is caused bythe bacteria Mycobacterium Leprae which is an acid-fast rod. Leprosys main mode oftransmission is from contact with upper respiratory droplets and broken skin. The leprosygerm affects peripheral nerves which lie near the skin, bones and skin. If they are leftuntreated, it can lead to a loss of feeling in the affected parts of the body. The hands, feet,eyes and face are most at risk. Inattentive patients can pick up a pot of boiling waterwithout even noticing it because of not having feeling in the hands. Signs of leprosyinclude a disfiguring of the skin and bones, twisting of the limbs, and curling of the fingersto form the characteristic claw hand. Loss of facial features coexist with thickening of theouter ear and collapse of the nose . Tumor like growths called lepromas from on the skinand in the respiratory tract in lepromatous leprosy. There is no toxin involved in leprosy. The treatment for it involves threeantibiotics, Dapsone, Rifampacin, and Clotazine. These three antibiotics that get rid of thegerm are a Multidrug Therapy (MDT). People with leprosy need to take treatment withtwo drugs for six months. Severe infections need three drugs for 24 months. Attemptshave been made to immunize populations with BCG, the vaccine for Tuberculosis. Leprosy has a long incubation period, but early diagnoses uses a procedure called thelepromin test, similar to how TB is tested on the skin. People affected by leprosy live in developing countries in Africa, Asia and SouthAmerica. It is a disease of poverty and tends to spread in areas of malnutrition andovercrowding. Leprosy is most prevalent in India, Brazil,...
