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Non-erythematous lesions
Published in Richard Ashton, Barbara Leppard, Differential Diagnosis in Dermatology, 2021
Richard Ashton, Barbara Leppard
Leprosy is a chronic bacterial infection due to Mycobacterium leprae. It is spread by droplet infection and has a long incubation period (anything from 2 months to 40 years). It principally affects peripheral nerves and the skin. The clinical features are very variable depending on the patient's cell-mediated immunity to the leprosy bacillus.
New Discoveries of Significance to the Prevention, Control, and Treatment of Leprosy
Published in Max J. Miller, E. J. Love, Parasitic Diseases: Treatment and Control, 2020
I would like to focus on new discoveries of significance to leprosy treatment in the broad sense of management of a leprosy patient, both from a practical and basic science point of view. I will limit my remarks to developments which, in my judgment, are significant in the last 5 years or so. The overall areas to be covered will include: Clinical leprosyThe pathology of leprosyThe microbiology of Mycobacterium lepraeExperimental infections with M. lepraeThe rehabilitation aspects of leprosyThe chemotherapy of leprosy
BCG and Other Vaccines
Published in Lloyd N. Friedman, Martin Dedicoat, Peter D. O. Davies, Clinical Tuberculosis, 2020
Vaccination with BCG may confer protection against non-tuberculous mycobacterial species due to cross-reactivity with conserved, often immunodominant, antigens.58 The estimates of protective efficacy against leprosy, caused by Mycobacterium leprae, vary from 20% to 90%.45,59 Although one meta-analysis determined an overall BCG-vaccine protective effect of 41% (95% CI 16–66) for trials and 60% (95% CI 51–70) for observational studies,60 another analysis reported just 26% (95% CI 14–37) and suggested that protection had been overestimated in observational studies.61 Cross-protection of BCG against Buruli ulcer disease has been reported in some studies62,63 but not in others.64,65 Murine studies have demonstrated a protective effect of BCG against infection with Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium kansasii.66 A study of neonates in the Czech Republic found that M. avium intracellulare complex-associated lymphadenitis was lower in BCG-vaccinated compared with unvaccinated children.38
Global epidemiology of leprosy from 2010 to 2020: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the proportion of sex, type, grade 2 deformity and age
Published in Pathogens and Global Health, 2022
Jing Yang, Xiang Li, Yanqi Sun, Lianhua Zhang, Guangjie Jin, Guoli Li, Shunyu Zhang, Kunchi Hou, Yunhui Li
Leprosy is an infectious chronic disease and a neglected tropical disease induced by Mycobacterium leprae, and mainly affects the skin, peripheral nerves, upper respiratory mucosa and eyes[1]. The prolonged physical deformities associated with leprosy get progressively worse with delayed diagnosis and increasing age [2]. While leprosy is a millennial disease, it is a public health and social issue of global concern prevalent in at least 122 countries [3]. The prevalence of leprosy declined from over 5 million cases in the 1980s to less than 129,192 in the late of 2020s [4]. This change was due to leprosy control around the world over the years. Based on the estimated new leprosy infections in 2020 published by World Health Organization (WHO), the top five countries, in sequence, are India, Brazil, Indonesia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bangladesh, and the proportion of newly detected leprosy cases with multibacillary leprosy was about 67.3%. In the meanwhile, 38.6% of the new leprosy cases were among females in the world. Considering that leprosy has still not been eradicated, it was essential to further investigate the epidemiological characteristics of leprosy.
Chronic Unilateral Uveitis as a Manifestation of Leprosy: A Case Report and Literature Review
Published in Ocular Immunology and Inflammation, 2021
Claudia Eugenia Duran Merino, María Camila Ortiz Úsuga, María Jaramillo Jaramillo, Ana María Rodríguez
Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is a chronic infectious granulomatous disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, a bacillus first described in 1873 by Gerhard Armauer Hansen in Norway1 Leprosy usually affects the peripheral nervous system, the musculoskeletal system, organs such as skin, mucosa, testicles, and eyes. Leprosy is a contagious disease transmitted by breathing airborne droplets of infected individuals; however, it is considered to be only mildly contagious.1 The first historical records associated with this disease date back to 400 B.C. in the ancient Egyptian Empire, China, and India. During different time periods, leprosy was associated with negative beliefs, those who suffered it were exposed to great compassion and humiliation since this disease was identified with sin, dirt; patients were isolated in specialized centers designed for the sole purpose of confining “lepers.”2
Leprosy in skulls from the Paris Catacombs
Published in Annals of Human Biology, 2020
Patrícia D. Deps, Simon M. Collin, Sylvie Robin, Philippe Charlier
Leprosy, or Hansen’s disease, is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae or Mycobacterium lepromatosis, obligate intracellular pathogens of high infectivity but low pathogenicity (Han et al. 2008). Archaeological, historical, and palaeopathological records show that leprosy has been a global endemic disease of humankind for at least 3000 years (Dharmendra 1947; Robbins et al. 2009), becoming pan-Asian and pan-European by the end of the first millennium AD (Skinsnes 1980; Skinsnes and Chang 1985). In Europe, leprosy was a sporadic endemic disease of low prevalence in relatively isolated rural communities of low population density up to the 10th century AD. Subsequently, as urban communities of higher population density developed, leprosy prevalence increased and sufferers were segregated in leprosy hospitals for fear of contagion. From the 13th century onwards leprosy declined in prevalence and it was almost eliminated from central Europe by the 16th century (Marcombe 2003; Rawcliffe 2006). In the modern era, leprosy has remained endemic in the tropics and wider sub-tropical regions.