2023-08-08 14:32:00
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All the more astonishing is the news that amazed the medical world a few days ago: a man from the US state of Florida had contracted leprosy – although he had never left the state or the USA in his life to date.
The man had apparently contracted the disease in his home in central Florida. The special thing regarding leprosy: According to the current state of research, infection only occurs through long-term, close contact with untreated leprosy patients.
Since the man obviously cannot have been infected while traveling in exotic countries, the contact must have taken place in Florida. Dermatologists at a skin clinic in Florida therefore came to Report of the amazing event to the conclusion, that the bacterium that causes leprosy is now endemic to Florida.
Endemic means that a pathogen is permanently native to a localized area. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention registered a slight increase in leprosy infections in the US over the past two decades. 2020 were indeed a total of only 159 cases reportedbut the vast majority of them, 81 percent, came from central Florida – exactly where the most recent infection with leprosy was detected.
Leprosy: You need to know that
Leprosy is a bacterial infectious disease. She will through this Mycobacterium leprae triggered. The bacteria attack the skin, mucous membranes and nerve cells and destroy tissue structures. Up to 30 years can elapse between infection and the onset of the disease. On average, it takes five to seven years for symptoms to appear following infection.
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Depending on the form of leprosy, different symptoms can occur. There are four main forms of leprosy:
Leprosy indeterminata Tuberkuloid Leprosy Lepromatose Leprosy Borderline Leprosy
The lightest form is Indeterminate harein which only pale patches of skin appear, which in most cases heal on their own.
In the leprosy tuberculoid – a mild form of the disease – skin discoloration also occurs. However, nerve damage also occurs here, leading to numbness and loss of touch. Patients then no longer feel pain in their fingers and toes – and do not notice when they injure themselves. Inflammations on fingers and toes then go undetected for a long time and sometimes become so severe that necrosis develops – dead tissue that has to be removed over a large area.
Die lepromatous Leprosy is one of the severe forms of the disease. Here the skin of those affected is through ulcers and swellings marked. It also form Lumps on and under the skin. In medical jargon, these facial disfigurements are referred to as “lion face” designated.
Die Borderline Leprosy is a mixed form of tuberculoid and lepomatous leprosy. Depending on the sale, symptoms can switch from one type to another.
Can you cure leprosy?
Yes, if diagnosed early, the progression of the disease can be stopped with medication and appropriate treatment. The prognosis of healing with early diagnosis is favorable.
However, once changes to the skin and damage to the nerves have occurred, they cannot be reversed.
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