leprosy
Sign in to saveLeprosy, also known as '''Hansen's disease (HD'), is a long-term infection by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae or Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damage may result in the loss of nociception, which can lead to the loss of parts of a person's extremities from repeated injuries or infection through unnoticed wounds. An infected person may also experience muscle weakness and loss of eyesight. Leprosy symptoms may begin within one year or take 20 years or more.
AI overview
Leprosy is a long-term bacterial infection that can damage nerves, skin, eyes, and the respiratory tract, sometimes leading to loss of sensation, muscle weakness, blindness, or loss of fingers and toes from unnoticed injuries. Symptoms can appear within a year or take more than 20 years to develop after infection.
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Key facts
- Medical condition.name
- Leprosy
- Medical condition.synonyms
- Hansen's disease (HD)
- Medical condition.image
- Tropmed-91-216-g001.jpg
- Medical condition.caption
- Rash on the chest and abdomen caused by leprosy
- Medical condition.field
- Infectious diseases
- Medical condition.symptoms
- Skin lesions, neuropathy, muscle weakness, partial paralysis, blindness, decreased ability to feel pain
- Medical condition.causes
- Mycobacterium leprae or Mycobacterium lepromatosis
- Medical condition.risks
- Close contact with a case of leprosy, living in poverty
- Medical condition.treatment
- Multidrug therapy
- Medical condition.medication
- Rifampicin, dapsone, clofazimine
- Medical condition.frequency
- 200,000 annually
Article
34 sectionsContents
- Signs and symptoms
- Cause
- ''Mycobacterium leprae'' and ''M. lepromatosis''
- Risk factors
- Transmission
- Genetics
- Pathogenesis
- Immunology
- Diagnosis
- Classification
- Complications
- Prevention
- Treatment
- Outcomes
- Epidemiology
- History
- Historical distribution
- Discovery and scientific progress
- Treatment
- Treatment cost
- Etymology
- Society and culture
- Historical texts
- Middle Ages
- 19th century
- 20th and 21st century
- Stigma
- Public policy
- Notable cases
- In media
- Infection of animals
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Leprosy, also known as '''Hansen's disease (HD'), is a long-term infection by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae or Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damage may result in the loss of nociception, which can lead to the loss of parts of a person's extremities from repeated injuries or infection through unnoticed wounds. An infected person may also experience muscle weakness and loss of eyesight. Leprosy symptoms may begin within one year or take 20 years or more.
Leprosy is spread between people, although extensive contact is necessary. Leprosy has a low pathogenicity, and 95% of people who contract or who are exposed to M. leprae do not develop the disease. Spread is likely through a cough or contact with fluid from the nose of a person infected by leprosy. Genetic factors and baseline immune function play a role in how easily a person catches the disease. Leprosy is not spread during pregnancy to the unborn child or through sexual contact. There are two main types of the disease—paucibacillary and multibacillary, which differ in the number of bacteria present. A person with paucibacillary disease has five or fewer poorly pigmented, numb skin patches, while a person with multibacillary disease has more than five skin patches. The diagnosis is confirmed by finding acid-fast bacilli in a biopsy of the skin.