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This is how leprosy is transmitted! Do you know how it spreads?
Leprosy (Hansen's disease) is a long-term infection caused by Mycobacterium leprae or Mycobacterium lepromatosis, which can cause damage to the nerves, respiratory tract, skin and eyes. The transmission route of leprosy has always puzzled many people, so it is particularly important to understand how this disease is spread.
Leprosy infection requires prolonged contact, but it is not a highly contagious disease.
The course of leprosy can be variable, with symptoms appearing as early as a year after infection, but some people may not develop symptoms until 20 or more years later. Even in 95% of people who are infected, they do not develop the disease because of their strong immune systems. Therefore, the spread of leprosy usually requires close contact and cannot be spread through everyday contact such as shaking hands or sitting together.
The main way leprosy is spread is through contact with the respiratory secretions of an infected person, such as bacteria released by coughing or sneezing.
The two main forms of leprosy, paucibacillary and multibacillary, differ in the number of bacteria they have. Patients with the anemic form typically face five or fewer patches of colorless, numb skin, while those with the polyleptic form have more than five patches of skin. Diagnosis is usually made by looking for acid-fast bacilli in a skin biopsy.
Although leprosy is considered a neglected tropical disease, it is curable through multidrug therapy (MDT).
The World Health Organization provides free leprosy treatment. Treatment usually lasts six months for impotent leprosy, and 12 months for polyleptic leprosy. Despite having a good prognosis with treatment, people with leprosy often face social stigma, which prevents many patients from self-reporting symptoms and receiving treatment.
Scholars point out that the spread of leprosy is, to some extent, related to factors affecting people living in poverty. Most new cases of leprosy in the world occur in countries such as India, Brazil and Indonesia, while the number of cases in the United States is relatively small, about 200 cases per year.
With the development of social history, leprosy has had a profound impact on mankind and is intertwined with multiple factors such as poverty and social exclusion.
Although leprosy is less pathogenic, it still causes fear and ostracism in society, which significantly reduces the quality of life of patients. In some countries, leprosy patients are still segregated, making treatment and control of the disease more difficult.
As technology advances, leprosy research is gradually revealing current treatment options and possible vaccines. In addition to MDT, vaccines under development may become another important weapon in the elimination of leprosy. In recent years, good news has come from clinical trials of the LepVax vaccine, which will be the first vaccine against leprosy.
Although treatment methods are constantly improving, social stigma and prejudice against leprosy still exist. It is crucial to dispel these misconceptions, otherwise even if leprosy is technically curable, patients may still face severe discrimination and mental health problems in society. This not only affects individuals, but also their families and communities. So, how can we more effectively eliminate social prejudice against leprosy?
