Contrary to popular belief, leprosy can still be transmitted. According to data reported by the World Health Organization, 200,000 new cases are reported every year. Also known as Hansen’s disease and caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium leprae, leprosy is a major problem today in 14 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
But several months ago, cases of leprosy spiked in Florida, causing panic throughout the region. An unusual phenomenon in this part of the world. Faced with this situation, many people have wondered if the return of leprosy to France was even possible. Question addressed by Dr Gerald Kirzek for Doctissimo.
“It is a disease that is associated with uncertainty, with immigrant populations or with people working abroad. So why not, cases are not impossible”, He explained while trying to reassure the most anxious. “First of all, we must remember that leprosy is not very contagious. It is transmitted through droplets and nasal secretions of infected people. But it is an infection that requires many contacts, is late and can take years to appear. Then, it is a condition that can be treated with antibiotics. There is no reason to panic.”
As a reminder, the treatment recommended by the WHO since 1981 makes it possible to cure patients and, if managed early, to avoid disability. This is a polychemotherapy (PCT), consisting of three antibiotics (dapsone, rifampicin and clofazimine). In total, paucibacillary leprosy (one to five nonresponsive skin lesions) can be cured within 6 months and multibacillary leprosy (more than five nonresponsive skin lesions) within 12 months. Additionally, patients are no longer infectious from the first dose of PCT, and thus their ability to transmit leprosy is disrupted.
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As the Pasteur Institute explains on its website, the disease causes skin and nerve damage. And without treatment, these lesions progress and become permanent, affecting the skin, nerves, organs and eyes.
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