Leprosy symptoms

What are the early signs of leprosy? Does leprosy spread by just touching a leprosy infected patient? How does leprosy start? Symptoms mainly affect the skin, nerves, and mucous membranes (the soft, moist areas just inside the body’s openings).

Discover the symptoms and see pictures.

The disease has been around since ancient times. The WHO classification system uses clinical manifestations (the number of skin lesions and nerve involvement) as well as skin smear to distinguish between forms of the disease. The bacterium that causes leprosy grows very slowly and can take two to years before signs and symptoms appear, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is caused by a bacterial infection.

An infection with Mycobacterium leprae or M. Early symptoms begin in cooler areas of the body and include loss of sensation. About of people who contact M. Every two minutes someone is diagnosed with leprosy.

It causes nerve damage and muscle weakness that can lead to deformities, crippling, blindness and isolation. Armadillos in the southern part of the United States sometimes carry the mycobacteria, but infection from this source is unlikely. Corneal ulcers or blindness can also occur if facial nerves are affecte due to loss of sensation of the cornea (outside) of the eye. Other signs of advanced leprosy may include loss of eyebrows and saddle-nose deformity resulting from damage to the nasal septum.

Antibiotics used during the treatment will kill the bacteria that cause leprosy. Once infected with the mycobacteria, the average incubation period is two to three years, but it can range from months to years or longer. In of patients the first sign of the disease is a feeling of numbness, which may precede skin lesions by a number of years. There are two main types of leprosy : tuberculoid and lepromatous.

Both tyes of leprosy produce lesions on the skin, but the lepromatous form is most severe, producing large disfiguring nodules. Can leprosy be treated? Treatments are aimed to eliminate the microorganism that causes leprosy and to reduce the symptoms.

Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. However, once a person starts experiencing symptoms , they can vary in type and intensity. Symptoms of leprosy will also vary based on the form of leprosy that a person has (tuberculoid leprosy versus lepromatous leprosy ). Tuberculoid leprosy is the less severe and less contagious form of the disease. Lepromatous leprosy is more severe and generalized.

This type of leprosy may affect organs such as the kidneys, testicles (in men), eyes, and nose.

The affected individuals are socially stigmatized and forced to live in isolation, away from the community. Skin bumps and lumps with hypoesthesia and peripheral neuropathies are common symptoms. The person's immune system is weak and the infection affects nerves and other organs along with skin. Though leprosy is an infectious disease, treatment reduces its infectivity to a large extent.

Dapsone is the most commonly used drug to treat leprosy , and in about days the patient becomes non-infectious to others. Treatment of leprosy is done by a combination of drugs. LEPROSY SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS What most people know about leprosy is that it is only spread through airborne contamination. Leprosy is a disease that is feared by one and all.

The mere touching of a person infected with leprosy cannot immediately transfer leprosy to another. In the Biblical times, people who were infected with leprosy were curse taunted and ignored.