Why called hansens disease

Many people think of leprosy as an ancient disease that was eradicated many years ago. But each year, thousands of men, women, and children all over the world develop this disease. The stigma of leprosy affects the physical, psychological, social, and economic well-being of those with leprosy, contributing to the cycle of poverty in the affected regions. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link.

Hansen's Disease Leprosy. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Leprosy does not cause flesh to rot or fingers and toes to drop off. In the past, limbs that have been damaged because the person cannot feel pain have sometimes had to be amputated. Now that the disease can be detected early, the need to amputate is rare. How leprosy is transmitted It is not known how leprosy is transmitted.

It is thought likely that leprosy is spread from person to person in respiratory droplets droplets expelled from the nose and mouth, for example when an infected person coughs or sneezes. In cases of leprosy in children under one year of age, it is thought possible that the infection may have been transmitted from the mother via the placenta. Leprosy is not highly infectious. People at risk are generally in close and frequent contact with leprosy patients or living in countries where the disease is more common.

The incubation period is thought to range from nine months to over 20 years. Before the introduction of multi-drug therapy in the early s, leprosy could only be slowed but not cured, as the bacteria could not be killed.

Now, with the use of antibiotics and with other medicines, the disease is curable. Once a person with leprosy begins appropriate treatment, they quickly become non-infectious. There is no vaccine generally available to specifically prevent leprosy.

However, the vaccine against tuberculosis TB , called the BCG vaccine, may provide some protection against leprosy. It is usually contracted by breathing airborne droplets from affected individuals' coughs and sneezes, or by coming into contact with their nasal fluids. However, it is not highly transmissible, and approximately 95 percent of individuals who are exposed to Mycobacterium leprae never develop leprosy. The infection can be contracted at any age, and signs and symptoms can take anywhere from several months to 20 years to appear.

Leprosy affects the skin and the peripheral nerves, which connect the brain and spinal cord to muscles and to sensory cells that detect sensations such as touch, pain, and heat. Most affected individuals have areas of skin damage cutaneous lesions and problems with nerve function peripheral neuropathy ; however, the severity and extent of the problems vary widely.

Leprosy occurs on a spectrum, in which the most severe form is called multibacillary or lepromatous, and the least severe form is called paucibacillary or tuberculoid. Patterns of signs and symptoms intermediate between these forms are sometimes called borderline forms. Multibacillary leprosy usually involves a large number of cutaneous lesions, including both surface damage and lumps under the skin nodules.

The moist tissues that line body openings such as the eyelids and the inside of the nose and mouth mucous membranes can also be affected, which can lead to vision loss, destruction of nasal tissue, or impaired speech. Some affected individuals have damage to internal organs and tissues. The nerve damage that occurs in multibacillary leprosy often results in a lack of sensation in the hands and feet. Repeated injuries that go unnoticed and untreated because of this lack of sensation can lead to reabsorption of affected fingers or toes by the body, resulting in the shortening or loss of these digits.

Paucibacillary leprosy typically involves a small number of surface lesions on the skin. There is generally loss of sensation in these areas, but the other signs and symptoms that occur in multibacillary leprosy are less likely to develop in this form of the disorder.

In any form of leprosy, episodes called reactions can occur, and can lead to further nerve damage. These episodes can include reversal reactions, which involve pain and swelling of the skin lesions and the nerves in the hands and feet. Learn about other bacteria and parasites like pinworms and how to prevent…. Shigellosis is a bacterial infection that affects the digestive system.

The Shigella bacterium is spread through contact with contaminated feces. As a boil on the skin matures, it typically develops a visible core of pus.

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