Leprosy Disease: Separating Facts from Fiction

Mostly celebrated on the last Sunday of January, it is mostly aimed at increasing awareness about leprosy and teaching people about the disease. It was discovered back in the 1870s when they discovered the slow-growing bacterium known as Mycobacterium leprae. It is not easy to catch the symptoms of the disease but people with the disease can be easily cured with antibiotics.

Leprosy is more commonly known as Hansen’s disease.

Facts about Leprosy

In 2019, India was amongst the top countries with new diagnoses of the disease. Even now, half of the new cases of the disease are diagnosed in India, which is also is home to a third of the world’s poor, and are therefore affected by the disease.

Challenges

It mostly affects people in a limited-resource country. Especially with overcrowded or populated places. It affects the places with difficulty in access to health care and even after that treatment completion is a dream for many. Some of them don’t even receive proper treatment.

Due to the stigma against leprosy not many people seek treatment, leading to graver problems and causing a delay in the diagnosis of the disease, and promoting the development of disabilities.

Girls and women face the added gender discrimination, affecting them badly. This disease becomes the cause of increased divorce rates, women destitute, homelessness, and eventually inability to take care of their children. Due to the increased stigma, they are often asked to retire from work as well.

Some misconceptions about the disease

It is contagious

Leprosy is very hard-to-catch disease. More than 95% of adults don’t catch the disease because of a good immune system.

Leprosy causes our fingers or toes to fall off

The bacteria that cause the diseases attack the nerve endings present in the fingers and toes and causes them to go numb and therefore any burns or cuts to the part go unnoticed leading to infection or damage, the body may reabsorb the digit and this only happens in very advanced cases of untreated disease.

The previous concepts of Leprosy remain the same

The ancient concept of the disease and modern leprosy is not the same. The old texts describe a variety of conditions from rashes and patchy skin to swelling. Old leprosy did not show signs of modern disease like disfigurement, blindness, or the loss of pain sensation.

People with Leprosy need to be separated from the healthy people

People with Leprosy that are undergoing medication and are taking antibiotics can live a normal life along with friends and family.

Leprosy spreads from the easiest of actions like shaking hands or sitting next to each

Mostly it’s not possible to catch leprosy through casual contact like talking to someone with the disease, shaking hands, or sitting next to someone with the disorder.

We should remember that we shouldn’t be judgemental of a disease without knowing facts or isolate a human, based on issues.