Leprosy

=**Leprosy**=



Two main forms of leprosy which are tuberculoid and lepromatous. They are very similar, but the lepromatous version is more dangerous, and it causes larger lumps and bodily damages.

**Causative Agent:** Bacterial. Caused by //Mycobacterium leprae// bacteria

**Occurrence Risks:** **-**Getting the disease from humid, damp areas -Easy to get the disease from an individual who has leprosy but has not been treated

**Symptoms:** -Patches of skin that are lighter than the rest of your skin -lighter skin patches has less sensitivity to heat, touch, and pain. (they do not heal after weeks or months) -hands, arms, feet, or legs may lack sensation, and they may contain numbness -weakness found in muscles -Permenant never damage if disease is not caught early on -disfiguration -complete loss of limbs

 **Tests and diagnosis:** -Lepromin Skin Test: used to determine what type of leprosy a person has. In this test, a small leprosy bacteria in injected into the arm, and it is examined after three days, and after 28 days to check for a reaction. -Skin Lesion Biopsy: removes a piece of skin from the body, the amount of skin removed, and the severity of the removal depends on how big the skin lesion is. This helps determine what disease a person may or may not have.

 **Treatment:** A variety of antibiotics are used to killed the bacteria that causes leprosy. Also, other over-the-counter medication can be used to reduce the amount of swelling.


 * Prevention: **Since the disease is not easy to transmit, it is hard for one to get leprosy. The main focus of preventing the disease is staying away from those who have leprosy, and they are untreated. Being around treated patients is not a problem because leprosy cannot be transmitted that easily. Also, staying away from damp, tropical climate areas where the //Mycobaterium leprae// bacteria can be found and is more common.

**Life Cycle:** Leprosy does not have a repetitive life cycle because the disease is not very contagious. Not easily transmitted, and it has a long incubation period.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Likelihood**: Leprosy is common in countries that have temperate, tropical, and subtropical temperature climates. Therefore, Leprosy is more common in Nigeria than it is in the United States due to the tropical, wet, and humid weather. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> -In the United States, there are on average 100 cases diagnosed every year.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Bibliography: <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002323 <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001347.htm <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">http://www.health.state.ny.us/diseases/communicable/leprosy/fact_sheet.htm