Best methods to prevent leprosy
Leprosy is an illness caused by tiny germs called bacteria. These germs can hurt the nerves, skin, eyes, nose, throat, and sometimes other parts of the body.
Leprosy can be mild or more serious. Sometimes it just affects a small part of the skin. Sometimes, it can spread to many places or hurt other organs. You might see rashes or bumps, feel numbness, or notice your muscles getting weaker.
Doctors can tell if someone has leprosy by looking at the symptoms and testing a small piece of skin. The main way to stop leprosy is with medicine called antibiotics. Antibiotics can stop the disease from getting worse, but they cannot fix nerves or skin that are already damaged.
Classification of leprosy
Doctors group leprosy into two main types by looking at the number of skin spots.
- Paucibacillary leprosy: means there are five or fewer spots on the skin. When doctors test these spots, they do not find any bacteria.
- Multibacillary leprosy: means there are six or more spots on the skin, or doctors can find bacteria in the spots when they test them
Leprosy can also be grouped by how it looks and how it acts.
- Tuberculoid leprosy is mild. People usually have just a few spots on their skin. This type is not common and does not spread easily.
- Lepromatous leprosy is more serious. People have more spots on their skin. This type is more common and can spread to others.
- Borderline leprosy is in between. It has signs of both tuberculoid and lepromatous leprosy.
The type of leprosy helps doctors decide how long you need medicine and what problems might happen later.
Mode of transmission of leprosy:
Leprosy can spread from one person to another. This happens when someone breathes in tiny droplets from the nose or mouth of a person who has leprosy.
But most people who are around the bacteria do not get sick. Usually, you have to be close to someone with leprosy for a long time to catch it.
Just touching a person with leprosy is not enough to catch the disease. Even doctors and nurses who help people with leprosy for years almost never get sick.
The best methods to prevent leprosy are:
- Stay away from body fluids or the sore skin of someone with leprosy.
- Do not touch tattoos on a person who has leprosy.
- If you are over 2 and live with someone who has leprosy, a doctor may give you one medicine dose to help protect you. This medicine is only given if the doctor checks and says it is safe for you.
- If you touch body fluids or sore skin, wash your skin right away with water, soap, and a little bleach.
- Leprosy germs grow very slowly in the body. You might not see signs of leprosy until a year or more after being near someone sick.
- Sometimes, it takes 5 to 7 years, or even 20 to 30 years, for symptoms to start.
- Once you have leprosy, the signs and symptoms change slowly over time.
The germs that cause leprosy grow very slowly. You may not see any signs until at least a year after being near someone sick. Most people get symptoms 5 to 7 years later. Sometimes, it can take 20 to 30 years for signs to show. After symptoms start, they change very slowly over time.
So, no panic to get it in the United Kingdom.
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