World Leprosy Day 2021
Usually through of as a disease of the past, leprosy in fact continues to affect millions of people across the globe, with hundreds of thousands of new diagnoses every year, as well as many who go without a diagnosis. Leprosy is easily curable, not highly contagious, and most people will have a natural immunity to it — however a lack of knowledge and understanding about this disease is one of the predominant challenges as scientists seek to eliminate leprosy in it’s entirety.
Leprosy is an infectious disease caused by a bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae (a relative of Tuberculosis). It is most common in third world countries, due to poor nutrition and overcrowding, this means that their immune systems are not as strong as they could be, and are therefore less able to fight the disease themselves.
What Are The Symptoms of Leprosy?
The first signs of leprosy include patches of skin which look paler than normal or nodules on the skin. It can be difficult to diagnose, and sometimes people are sent away with a misdiagnosis.
If leprosy is not treated it will attack the nerves in the person’s feet, hands, eyes and parts of the face. This means that if they were to injure themselves they would not feel any pain, so their injuries can go unnoticed. Untreated leprosy can also cause muscle weakness and paralysis, which can result in a ‘clawed hand’ (the fingers weaken and curl up)and ‘foot-drop’ (the muscles that lift the feet no longer work properly). Leprosy can also cause an inability to close the eyes due to eyelid paralysis. These symptoms can increase the risk of further illness and injury in the infected person.
Some people can experience immune reactions to the leprosy bacteria in their body, even once those bacteria are no longer alive. These reactions can cause sickness, pain, swelling of the skin and fever. These post-infection reactions are hard to treat.
In some countries, largely due to superstition and myths, there is a great deal of fear associated with leprosy, and people diagnosed with this disease are commonly stigmatised, leading to rejection by their families and communities. Some infected people may lose their jobs, thus losing their source of income — some even lose their homes.
How Can I Help?
If you want to be involved and help reduce leprosy infections around the world, you can share information on social media; you could donate to the Lepra charity who’s work helps impoverished communities deal with and prevent leprosy infection; and you can hold COVID-safe fundraisers too.
Why not check out the Microbiology, Biomedical Science, and Public Health courses and the University of Wolverhampton — you could be part of the solution to global illness.
By Phoebe Hinton-Sheley