Mycobacterium leprae is the bacterium that causes the chronic, progressive illness known as leprosy. It primarily affects the upper respiratory system, skin, nasal lining, and nerves of the extremities. The Hansen's disease is another name for leprosy.
The infectious illness leprosy results in severe, disfiguring skin lesions as well as nerve damage in the arms, legs, and other skin-covered parts of the body. Leprosy has existed since antiquity. People have been impacted by outbreaks on every continent.
Leprosy, however, is not very infectious. Only close and frequent contact with mouth and nose droplets from a person who has untreated leprosy can cause you to get it. Leprosy affects children more frequently than it does adults.
Symptoms
Peripheral nerves, often known as skin and skin-related nerves, are largely impacted by leprosy. Your eyes and the delicate tissue lining the inside of your nose might also be affected.
Disfiguring skin sores, lumps, or bumps that persist for several weeks or months are the primary sign of leprosy. The skin lesions are light in hue.
After coming into touch with the bacterium that causes leprosy, it typically takes 3 to 5 years for symptoms to manifest. Some people don't start experiencing symptoms for 20 years. The incubation period is the interval between exposure to the germs and the onset of symptoms. Doctors have an extremely tough time figuring out when and where a leprosy patient contracted the disease because of the lengthy incubation period.
Causes
Mycobacterium leprae is a kind of slow-growing bacteria that causes leprosy (M. leprae). The illness Hansen's, named for the researcher who discovered M, is another name for leprosy. leprosy in 1873.
It is unclear how leprosy is spread exactly. When a leprous individual coughs or sneezes, M-containing droplets may be transmitted. breathing in the leprae germs of another individual. Leprosy is spread by close personal contact with an afflicted individual. It cannot be passed on through innocuous interactions such as handshakes, hugs, or sitting next to an infected person on a bus or at a table while eating.
Leprosy cannot be transmitted from pregnant women to their unborn children. Additionally, it cannot be spread through sexual contact.
Leprosy infection risk is extremely low, yet it is still possible to lower it. Avoiding touch with bodily fluids and those who have leprosy's rashes is the greatest approach to prevent leprosy. Avoiding prolonged, close contact with someone who has Hansen's disease and isn't receiving treatment is the greatest strategy to prevent the illness.
AA I Floricel N. Denopol, RND
References:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Hansen’s Disease (Leprosy)
https://familydoctor.org/condition/leprosy/
Leprosy
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/leprosy
https://www.healthline.com/health/leprosy#types
Leprosy (Hansen's Disease)
https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/guide/leprosy-symptoms-treatments-history
