Leprosy is known as a chronic infectious pathology that is caused by Hansen's bacillus, which is scientifically called Mycobacterium leprae. This disease is characterized by presenting various nervous and cutaneous symptoms, the most characteristic of all being the appearance of spots, tubers and ulcers.
Through the years, leprosy has been a stigma for those who have suffered from it, in ancient times, lepers were excluded from by the rest of the people, they were locked up in lepers; Regardless of the moral issues that such imprisonment implies, however, it is already known today that it was an extreme and unnecessary measure despite the fact that leprosy is a disease of very low transmissibility, especially if it is treated correctly.
This disease occurs in different forms which can be differentiated both by its severity and by its symptoms, resulting in the following classification: first, it has two extreme forms; contagious lepromatous leprosy and tuberculoid leprosy.
For its part, the incidence of leprosy each year is approximately 250,000 new cases worldwide, especially in the regions of Southeast Asia. Much of cases of leprosy are given a level worldwide are concentrated in the following regions: India, Brazil, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of the Congo, among others. On the other hand, in European countries like Spain, leprosy is no longer an important disease; Since there are only a few isolated imported cases annually, which can range between 20 and 30 cases annually. Until now For unknown reasons this infection practically disappeared from Europe in the 16th century with the exception of certain regions.
Como ya se mencionó anteriormente, la lepra es causada por la bacteria Mycobacterium leprae. Cabe acotar que esta no es muy contagiosa y tiene un largo período de incubación, lo cual hace mucho más complicado el saber dónde y cuándo alguien contrajo la enfermedad. Los niños son los más propensos en contraer esta enfermedad si se compara con los adultos.
