Leprosy

By Christine Kim

Leprosy is a chronic, infectious disease that damages the skin, peripheral nerves, and mucous membranes of

the mouth, throat, and eyes.

There are two forms of leprosy.

Tuberculoid

There are two forms of leprosy.

Lepramatous

In 1878, Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen identified Mycobacterium leprae as the cause of leprosy.

Leprosy was recognized in ancient China, Egypt, and India.

Leprosy is hard to transmit but when transmitted it is

spread by respiratory droplets.

Leprosy begins as an infection in the nerve endings and spreads gradually.

There are a number of symptoms:

There are a number of symptoms:

• Skin lesions• Muscle weakness• Numbness in hands, arms, feet, legs

How does M. leprae infect our cells?

Multidrug Therapy is used to treat leprosy. This involves a a combination of the antibiotics

dapsone, rifampin, and clofazimine.

How can we prevent the spread of leprosy?

WHO’s World Health Association passed a resolution in 1991 to eliminate leprosy by the year 2000.

Elimination = 1 case per 10,000 persons. The target was achieved!

Prevalence of Leprosy in the year 2010

There is no official, nationally accepted vaccine for leprosy.

However, there is a significant amount of research being done on the subject.

Works Consulted• Brand, Margaret. "Eye Complications in Leprosy." Stanford.edu. Stanford University, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2012.

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