Leprosy is also known as the “Hansen’s disease”. It is a highly contagious long-term disease that is caused by the bacterium called the “BACILLI MYCOBACTERIUM LEPRAE”. The disease affects the skin membrane and the nerves by formation lumps on the skin and also leads to the discoloration of the skin. Critical stages of leprosy le0.ad to deformities and disfigurement. This disease can affect all people irrespective of their age. The bacterium takes a very long time to multiply and therefore it is very difficult to recognize the symptoms and to diagnose the disease at the early stage.
This is a highly transmittable disease and it is usually transmitted from one person to another through the droplets of infected saliva or phlegm. It usually takes about three to five years for the symptoms to appear. Sometimes, it might also take more than twenty years to diagnose. The time of interval between the period of contact and the period of diagnosis is called the “incubation period”. The longer the incubation period is, the more difficult it will be for the doctor to treat the patient. There are a lot of drugs for the treatment of leprosy, which are used as a combination of medicines in multi drug therapy. These should never be used for the patients singly like in mono drug therapies.
“DAPSONE”, a bacteriostatic medicine that proved to fight against the Leprae bacterium was used as the cure for leprosy for many years. However, this medicine could not cure multibacillary leprosy. Therefore, at present, Dapsone is combined with “RIFAMPICIN” and “CLOFAZIMINE” as a multi drug therapy for curing leprosy. By- Pujha Ramesh
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