[오늘의 키워드] leprosy
The 29th was World Leprosy Day. Hansen’s disease, also called leprosy and leprosy in the past, is one of the oldest diseases recorded in human history, but it has long been discriminated against due to prejudice. In the past, it was considered a hereditary disease or, in many ancient cultures, thought to be caused by uncleanness, filth, or sin.
The first record of Hansen’s disease was found in India around 600 B.C., and it is often mentioned in the Christian scriptures, the Bible. In the case of Korea, there is a record that about 100 people were accommodated and treated during the Joseon Dynasty in 1451 AD.
The first person to attempt a modern medical approach to leprosy was Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen (1841-1912), a Norwegian physician. Hansen insisted that Hansen’s disease was an infectious disease, not a genetic disease, and accordingly introduced infectious diseases such as quarantine and disinfection to drastically reduce the incidence of Hansen’s disease in Norway at the time.
Hansen’s disease is a chronic infectious immune disease mainly affecting the skin and peripheral nerves caused by Mycobacterium leprae. The incubation period varies from 9 months to 20 years.
Depending on the type of pathological changes that appear on the skin, it is largely divided into two types: leprosy and tuberculous leprosy. In the case of leprosy, pathological changes such as nodules (rash with a diameter of 5 mm or more) or papules (rash with a diameter of 5 mm or less from the size of millet to the size of a pea) appear widely on the skin of the whole body symmetrically on both sides. Nuclear leprosy is characterized by one or more well-defined dermatitis that spreads asymmetrically throughout the body, and the affected area of the skin becomes numb or hypersensory. Tuberculosis leprosy is particularly severe in the peripheral nerve invasion.
The contagiousness of leprosy is very low, and it is hardly spread at the level of daily life, such as simple contact, use of the same space, and mosquito bites. It spreads through long-term close contact with family members, and some genotypes are known to be more susceptible to infection. There is no vaccine, but BCG, a tuberculosis vaccination, can prevent some of Hansen’s disease due to similar characteristics of Leprosy and Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Unlike prejudice, Hansen’s disease is currently treatable and curable. It is treated with a combination of three drugs: dapsone, cropazimine, and rifampicin. If used at the right time, leprosy is killed at an early stage and Hansen’s disease is cured. In general, treatment is required for as little as two to several years. Hansen’s disease patients who are being treated or who have only the aftereffects after the Hansen’s disease is over completely lose their contagious power.
The contents were summarized with reference to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Korea Hansen Welfare Association, and the Seocho-gu Public Health Center.
