About Leprosy (Hansen's disease)

 

Leprosy is a disease which is mainly caused by the Mycobacterium leprae bacteria that causes damage to the skin and also to the peripheral nervous system. This disease develops slowly about 6 months to 40 years which results in skin lesions and deformities, and it mostly affects the cooler places on the body parts like eyes, nose, earlobes, hands, feet, and testicles.The skin lesions and deformities can be hard to disfigure and are the reason which can be historically people to be considered infected individuals.

The primary source of infection is human-to-human transmission, and three other species can also carry but rarely transfer M. leprae bacteria to humans: species like chimpanzees, mangabey monkeys, and nine-banded armadillos. This leprosy disease is termed as chronic granulomatous disease which is like same as tuberculosis, because granulomatous disease produces inflammatory nodules called granulomas in the areas of skin and peripheral nerves over the period of time

Leprosy Symptoms

Leprosy disease mainly affects your skin and nerves which usually affect the outside of your brain and spinal cord called the peripheral nerves. This disease can also strike your eyes and the thin lining tissues which are inside of your nose.

The most common symptoms of all types of leprosy disease are disfiguring skin sores, sudden lumps, or more of bumps that won't be recovered after the exposure of several weeks to months. That skin sores appear pale coloured.

Nerve damages of this disease can lead to:

• You feel loss of energy in your arms and legs

• Muscle weakness or aching

This type of disease usually takes almost 3 to 5 years to show up the symptoms after contracting with the bacteria which causes leprosy. Some of the people with leprosy disease do not develop any symptoms until late 20 years. The period of time between contact with the bacteria and the showup of symptoms is called the incubation period. Leprosy's incubation period makes this disease infection very difficult for healthcare providers to diagnose when and where a person got infected with leprosy.

Causes of Leprosy

Leprosy disease is caused by a bacteria which is a slow-growing type called Mycobacterium leprae or M. leprae. And leprosy disease also called Hansen's disease, after the discovery of M. leprae bacteria in 1873 by the scientists.

Till date, it’s not known how exactly leprosy disease is transmitted to other human. When an infected person with leprosy coughs or sneezes, they may spread the droplets which contain M. leprae bacteria that can be breathed in by another person. Close physical contact with an infected person is one of the main reasons to transmit leprosy. These diseases cannot be transmitted to humans by having casual contact with an infected person with leprosy such as by shaking hands, or hugging, or sitting next to them on a bus or at a table by having a meal together.

Pregnant mothers with leprosy disease cannot pass it to their unborn fetus. This disease cannot be transmitted by either sexual contact.

Forms of Leprosy

Leprosy diseases are of different types, you can be defined by the number and type of skin sores you have in your body. Signs & symptoms and treatment of leprosy disease can also depend on the type of leprosy you have.

Leprosy types are:

Tuberculoid.This type is a mild, less severe form of leprosy. People with this type of leprosy have only one or a few patches of flat, pale-coloured skin called paucibacillary leprosy. The infected area of skin might feel numb because of nerve damage by Tuberculoid leprosy. Tuberculoid leprosy is less contagious than other forms of leprosy types.

Lepromatous. This is one of the severe forms of disease. This type brings widespread skin bumps and rashes called multibacillary leprosy, numbness, and muscle weakness.The nose, kidneys, and male reproductive organs may also be affected by this type of leprosy. This type is more contagious than tuberculoid leprosy

Borderline. People who are affected with Borderline leprosy, then they gradually facing the symptoms of both the tuberculoid and lepromatous forms of leprosy disease.

Diagnosis

Your healthcare provider will conduct a physical examination to look for telltale signs and symptoms of leprosy disease. Your doctor also performs a biopsy which means they remove a small piece of skin or nerve and send it to a lab for testing.

Your physician may also perform a lepromin skin test which helps to determine the form of leprosy disease. Your provider injects a small amount of leprosy disease causing bacteria which can be inactivated into the skin, normally on the upper part of the forearm.

People with both types of leprosy like tuberculoid or borderline tuberculoid leprosy will gradually get a positive impact or results at the injected area.

Treatment

WHO developed a multidrug therapy in 1995 which is to cure all types of leprosy diseases. This therapy can be available worldwide free of charge.

In addition to that, they prescribe several antibiotics that are used to treat leprosy disease by killing the bacteria which causes the leprosy disease.

Antibiotics include:

• dapsone (Aczone)

• rifampin (Rifadin)

• clofazimine (Lamprene)

• minocycline (Minocin)

• ofloxacin (Ocuflux)

Your healthcare provider will prescribe you to take more than one antibiotic at the same time. They might be als want you to take anti-inflammatory medications like aspirin (Bayer), prednisone (Rayos), or thalidomide (Thalomid). The treatment for this disease will last for months and it can also possibly upto 1 to 2 years.

You should not take thalidomide drugs, if you are or become pregnant. This can produce severe birth defects to infants.

Complications

If you delay the diagnosis and treatment, it can lead to serious complications which includes: 

• disfigurement

• More of hair loss, particularly on the eyebrows and eyelashes

• Sudden muscle weakness

• Having permanent nerve damage in the arms and legs

• Sudden inability to use hands and feet

• Nose health issues like chronic nasal congestion, nosebleeds, and collapse of the nasal septum

• iritis, which means an inflammation of the iris of the eye

• glaucoma is an eye disease which causes severe damage to the optic nerve

• blindness

• erectile dysfunction (ED)

• infertility

• kidney failure

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What causes leprosy?

Ans: Hansen's disease (also known as leprosy) is an infection caused by slow-growing bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae.

Q2. How is leprosy spread?

Ans: when a person with Hansen's disease coughs or sneezes, and a healthy person breathes in the droplets containing the bacteria.

Q3. How is leprosy cured?

Ans: Hansen's disease is treated with a combination of antibiotics.

Q4. What is the vaccine for leprosy?

Ans: To date, BCG has been used predominantly as a vaccine against TB, but it also contributes to the control of leprosy.

Q5. How long is leprosy?

Ans: The range is from 9 months to 20 years. It usually takes 4-years from the time of exposure to the virus.