The 6 Causes of Leprosy That Many Ignore!

The 6 Causes of Leprosy that Many Ignore  are very important for health , so because Leprosy  is a  devastating  disease and knowing The Main Causes of Leprosy  is very important. In addition, leprosy , also called leprosy, is a skin disease  in which whitish spots usually appear on the skin, which affect even the nerves causing great damage.

Leprosy is transmitted by the   secretions of the infected individual, treatment is done with the use of antibiotics prescribed by the doctor, so that it can be cured. Although leprosy  has a cure, it can be difficult to achieve if the person does not perform the treatment correctly, repeating the dosage and treatment time indicated by the doctor.

Leprosy , also called Hansen ‘s disease  , is caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium leprae, which mainly damages the peripheral nerves, decreasing the sensitivity of the skin . The  most affected body parts are the eyes , hands and feet, but the sores can also affect the face, ears, buttocks, arms, legs  and back.

As the ability to detect touch, pain , heat and cold diminishes, infected people can burn, cut, or injure themselves without realizing it.

Major Causes of Leprosy:  Leprosy is  a slow but potentially devastating disease  caused by the microbe Mycobacterium leprae. The pseudonym Hansen’s disease  (HD) is a hallmark of recognition of the work done by Dutch microbiologist Gerhard Hansen on its etiology.

The Organism:  Mycobacterium leprae is an acid-fast organism that is, its cell wall contains large amounts of mycolic acid and waxes, among other complex lipids. This gives a waxy consistency to the cell wall and enables it to resist discoloration ensuing staining with carbol fuchsin, which otherwise gives the cytoplasm a red color.

This characteristic retention of the red color following application of acidified alcohol gives rise to the term acid-fast. M. leprae is a fastidious organism, making its culture very difficult to grow in vitro. In fact it took decades to find a suitable remedy in which to culture the organism, which has led to considerable delays in establishing the etiological role of M leprae. In the US, it is found mainly in the nine-banded armadillo.

Leprosy  is highly contagious but produces few clinical cases due to the natural immunity of most humans to the bacterium. Approximately 95 percent of humans are thought to be genetically immune to leprosy .

However, this figure may vary with respect to discrete population groups and with a long generational history of exposure to the disease  or microbe. For example, the prevalence in Micronesia is much higher than among most other population groups. This may be due to lack of previous exposure, as well as differences in native susceptibility.

Clinical Infection:  Host, environmental, and pathogen factors interact in a complex and poorly understood manner in  Hansen’s disease . In most cases the genetic variability and virulence of the pathogen is not noticeably different between different clinical forms of the disease .

In other words, the variation in leprosy  outbreaks is due to differences in the genetic makeup of the susceptible host, mediated by differential activation of metabolic pathways by the microbe, along with Schwann cell reprogramming and individual-specific differences in the contribution of innate and adaptive immunity. Each case can therefore be thought of as unique.

Close contact with an infected person over a long duration is required for transmission to occur to a susceptible individual. Flugge drops in nasal secretions are responsible for transmission through inhalation.

Other than secretion, nasal skin ulcers , blood , breast milk, insect bites, or vertical transmission, may all act less commonly as transmission routes. Carrier states are also thought to exist and to be involved in the transmission of leprosy .

Symptoms of Leprosy:  Symptoms may involve patches of skin , sometimes visible, other times paler or slightly brown. There is a change in the way the person feels the temperature in the place affected by the spots.

Nerves are also compromised, often leading to the onset of numbness. In addition, lumps or bumps may appear  on the ears, hands, or elbows. In some cases, the symptoms are worse and some limb deformity may occur.

Leprosy Treatment:

Antibiotics:  Antibiotics can halt the progression of leprosy , but they cannot reverse any nerve damage or deformity. Therefore, early detection and treatment are of vital importance. Because leprosy  bacteria become resistant to an antibiotic if it is used individually, doctors prescribe more than one drug.

As bacteria are difficult to eradicate, antibiotics must be continued over a long period of time. Depending on the severity of the infection, antibiotics are taken for six months to many years. The drugs chosen depend on the type of leprosy :

Multibacillary: The standard drug combination is dapsone, rifampicin, and clofazimine. In the United States, people are given rifampicin, dapsone, and clofazimine once a day for 24 months. Dapsone is continued indefinitely for lepromatous leprosy  and for ten years for borderline leprosy  .

In other parts of the world, people take rifampicin and clofazimine once a month under the supervision of a healthcare professional . They take dapsone plus clofazimines once a day, on their own. This regime is maintained for twelve months.

Paucibacillary: In the United States, people with leprosy  are given rifampicin and dapsone once a day for twelve months. Then dapsone is continued for three to five years. In other parts of the world, people take rifampicin once a month with supervision and dapsone once a day without supervision for six months. People who have only a single affected area of ​​skin  receive a single dose of rifampicin, ofloxacin, and minocycline.

Dapsone is relatively inexpensive and is generally safe to use. It causes, in some cases, skin rashes of an allergic nature and anemia . The more expensive rifampicin is even more effective than dapsone. Its most serious side effects are liver damage and flu -like symptoms . Clofazimine is extremely safe. The main side effect is temporary skin pigmentation , which can take months to fade.