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| FAQ's |
Leprosy |
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Leprosy as a disease |
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Leprosy has been in India since over 2500 years. |
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Reasonably accurate description of the disease could be found in ancient medical literature like Sushruta Samhita of Sushruta dating back to 600 B C. |
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The communities and families have often ostracized the afflicted. |
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Inspite of medical advances, leprosy still exists. |
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What is leprosy?, its cause |
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Leprosy is a disease, which mainly affects skin and nerves. A bacillus called Mycobacterium leprae causes leprosy. |
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M. Leprae multiplies very slowly and the incubation period of the disease is about five years. |
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Symptoms can take as along as 20 years to appear |
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Leprosy is not highly infectious. It is transmitted via droplets, from the nose and mouth, during close and frequent contacts with untreated, infected persons. |
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Symptoms |
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Leprosy usually starts as a slightly light copper coloured patch and the person affected will not have any feeling for pain, touch or temperature on the patch. |
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The patch can be found anywhere in the body. Nerves near to these patches and at the joints are swollen when affected. |
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Paucibacillary (PB) leprosy results in one to five numb skin patches. Multibacillary (MB) leprosy results in more than five numb skin patches. |
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How do disabilities develop |
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If the disease is neglected, leprosy affects nerves; nerve damage means that you are unable to feel touch, temperature and pressure through your skin. |
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The most common place is hands and feet. It can take away the ability to move fingers, toes and eyelids. |
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The fingers and toes appear like a claw. It can also destroy the ability to feel pain, so those affected are prone to injuries and burns, which can result in serious infections, and can ultimately cause disabilities. |
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In leprosy small burns lead to serious damage, such as ulcers, and even further damage to bones causing deformity. |
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Treatment |
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Leprosy is a curable disease and treatment provided in the early stages averts disability. |
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Word Health Organisation (WHO) recommended Multi Drug Therapy (MDT). MDT consists of three drugs: Dapsone, Rifampicin and Clofazimine. |
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The treatment is given as tablets that kills the bacteria and prevents the patient doing further damage. The duration of the treatment is 6 months to 1 year. |
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Patients are no longer infectious to others after the first dose of MDT. |
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