Knowra Leprosy Leprosy Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused mainly by Mycobacterium leprae, affecting skin and peripheral nerves. Untreated nerve damage can cause loss of sensation and disability.
Mycobacterium leprae : A slow-growing bacterium that causes most cases of leprosy and infects skin cells and peripheral nerves. This bacterium causes leprosy and preferentially infects cooler tissues, including skin and superficial nerves.
Multidrug therapy for leprosy : A combination of antibiotics used to cure leprosy and reduce the risk of drug resistance. Combining medicines clears infection and is the standard treatment for leprosy.
Tuberculoid leprosy : A form of leprosy with strong cellular immunity, few skin lesions, and relatively few bacteria. It illustrates how effective cellular immunity limits bacterial numbers but does not always prevent nerve injury.
History of leprosy : The history of leprosy encompasses its diagnosis, treatment, social consequences, and geographic spread. Leprosy’s long history connects changing medical knowledge with persistent social responses.
Leprosy stigma : Social prejudice and discrimination directed at people affected by leprosy. Fear of contagion and visible disability have fueled exclusion even when treatment makes transmission unlikely.
Mycobacterium lepromatosis : A species of mycobacterium that causes leprosy, especially in some cases of diffuse disease. It is a second recognized bacterial cause of leprosy, distinct from M. leprae.
Dapsone : An antimicrobial drug used with other antibiotics to treat leprosy. Dapsone is one of the core medicines in the standard multidrug regimen.
Lepromatous leprosy : A form of leprosy with weak cellular immunity, widespread lesions, and many bacteria in tissues. It shows the extensive disease associated with poor cellular control of M. leprae.
Gerhard Armauer Hansen : A Norwegian physician who identified the bacterium associated with leprosy in 1873. Hansen’s discovery established leprosy as an infectious disease rather than an inherited condition.
Leprosarium : An institution historically used to house or treat people diagnosed with leprosy. Leprosaria embody the long history of separating people with the disease from their communities.
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