How is leprosy prevention

Navigation menu. Who gets leprosy? Anyone can get leprosy, but children seem to be more susceptible than adults. How is leprosy spread? What are the symptoms of leprosy?

How soon after exposure do symptoms appear? When and for how long is a person able to spread leprosy? What is the treatment for leprosy? Early recognition of symptoms, prompt diagnosis, health seeking behavior, personal care, treatment adherence and rehabilitation are important aspects of health education. The key messages included are about the cause of disease and the complete cure available to encourage people for early diagnosis and treatment.

It also aims at helping people to change their attitude and behavior by removing the misunderstandings and misconceptions. Mass Health education also helps to eradicate social stigma, social ostracism and social prejudice associated with leprosy which is the biggest hindrance for the eradication of disease. The complications of the disease cause disfigurement and disabilities which in turn gives way to the stigma and strong discrimination of these patients. This results not only in physical and social isolation also financial dependency, ultimately forcing the leprosy patients to beg on streets for their survival.

This intended to enhance the quality of life for lepers with disabilities through community initiatives. Community participation and using local resources to support the rehabilitation of people with disabilities within their own communities is the foundation of this concept [ 9 , 10 ]. Since the elimination of leprosy in , the prevalence is very less and thus G2DR has been proposed as an indicator.

The advantage of G2DR as indicator is that, it is less susceptible to operational factors such as detection delay and is a more robust marker for mapping cases of leprosy in any country. This will also help the program implementers to focus on interventions that reduce visible deformities by enhancing early detection and treatment of leprosy patients and ultimately reduce the number of new leprosy cases in the population.

However by the end of , only Thailand was able to achieve this target [ 11 ]. The program aims to reinvigorate efforts to control leprosy and avert disabilities, especially among children still affected by the disease in endemic countries.

The strategy is built around three major pillars: Strengthen government ownership and partnerships;. The strategy of this program is: To sustain expertise and increase the number of skilled leprosy staff;. The key interventions needed to achieve these targets include: Early case detection especially in children before visible disabilities occur thus reduce transmission;.

In highly endemic areas or communities detection of disease among higher risk groups through campaigns;. Improving health care coverage and access for marginalized populations such as poor patients, patients in the difficult to reach areas and the areas of conflicts. Customization of the strategic interventions in endemic countries is permitted to suit the national plans to meet the new targets.

Screening all close contacts of persons affected by leprosy; initiating a shorter and uniform treatment regimen; and incorporating specific interventions against stigmatization and discrimination. Its ultimate goal of this program is to further reduce the global and local leprosy burden, that is, a zero disabilities in children with leprosy-affected, b G2DR less than one per million population and c repeal of laws that discriminate leprosy patients of their rights.

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Introduction Mycobacterium leprae M. To interrupt the transmission of infection. To prevent drug resistance, relapse and reaction. The advantages of MDT over dapsone monotherapy are: Shorter duration of treatment, Better patient compliance, High cure rate, Cost-effectiveness and Ease in health delivery system.

Recommended Regimens are discussed below [ 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]: i. Multibacillary leprosy: MDT is recommended for following groups of patients: All smear positive cases. Skin lesions more than five in number.

More than one nerve trunk thickening. Dapsone: mg daily, self administered. Paucibacillary leprosy: The drugs and dose schedule is: Rifampicin mg once a month for 6 months supervised. Dapsone mg daily for 6 months self administered. Paucibacillary leprosy is treated for 6 months. The drugs in each blister pack are Figure 3 : Two capsules of Rifampicin of mg mg once a month to be taken as single dose under supervision. Dapsone mg as single dose and then daily once for 1 month.

Table 1. Programmatic measures The strategy is built around three major pillars: Strengthen government ownership and partnerships; Stop leprosy and its complications; and Stop discrimination and promote inclusion.

The strategy of this program is: To sustain expertise and increase the number of skilled leprosy staff; To improve the participation of affected persons in leprosy services; To reduce visible deformities and stigma associated with the disease; To call for renewed political commitment and enhanced coordination among partners; To highlight the importance of research and improved data collection and analysis.

The key interventions needed to achieve these targets include: Early case detection especially in children before visible disabilities occur thus reduce transmission; In highly endemic areas or communities detection of disease among higher risk groups through campaigns; Improving health care coverage and access for marginalized populations such as poor patients, patients in the difficult to reach areas and the areas of conflicts.

Conflict of interest Author declares no conflict of interest. More Print chapter. How to cite and reference Link to this chapter Copy to clipboard. Cite this chapter Copy to clipboard Vaseem Anjum May 16th Available from:.

Over 21, IntechOpen readers like this topic Help us write another book on this subject and reach those readers Suggest a book topic Books open for submissions. If leprosy damages your eyes, it can lead to glaucoma and even blindness. Lepromatous leprosy can reduce the amount of the male hormone testosterone and sperm counts in men. This can lead to erectile dysfunction and infertility. In more severe cases, leprosy can also damage the kidneys, which can lead to kidney failure.

This article was contributed by: familydoctor. This information provides a general overview and may not apply to everyone. Talk to your family doctor to find out if this information applies to you and to get more information on this subject.

You may hear conflicting reports from different sources. The U. Visit The Symptom Checker. Read More. Food Poisoning. Acute Bronchitis. Eustachian Tube Dysfunction. Bursitis of the Hip. Abnormal Uterine Bleeding. High Blood Pressure.

Home Diseases and Conditions Leprosy. Table of Contents. What is leprosy? Symptoms of leprosy Leprosy progresses very slowly. Depending on the type of leprosy, symptoms may include: Skin sores or lesions that do not heal after several months lesions are flat or slightly elevated and light in color or slightly red Skin lumps and bumps that can be disfiguring Numbness of the skin because of damage to the nerves under the skin Muscle weakness. What causes leprosy?

Children are more likely to develop leprosy than adults. How is leprosy diagnosed?