Leprosy (Hanson's Disease)

Leprosy, also known as Hansen's Disease, is a medical condition that basically attacksthe surface nerves of an individual, causing a feeling of numbness and lack of sensation. Leprosy is caused by Mycobacterium leprae. This disease is acquired, transmitted and spread by common airborne infections such as sneezing and coughing. The most evident primary symptom of leprosy is the appearance of a patch on the skin, commonly associated with loss of feeling or sensation.
Most people think that people who are sick with leprosy are very contagious and should not be allowed to interact with normal people. Individuals who are infected with leprosy have a hard time interacting with other people because they are looked down and discriminated, as if they are full of germs and bacteria.
LEPROSY SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
What most people know about leprosy is that it is only spread through airborne contamination. The mere touching of a person infected with leprosy cannot immediately transfer leprosy to another. In the Biblical times, people who were infected with leprosy were cursed, taunted and ignored. In the modern times, the discrimination against people who are infected with leprosy has lessened, but the fact still can’t be denied that there is still an existing discrimination. Thanks to the modern medicines and innovations of today, leprosy can now be treated and controlled. There are two kinds of leprosy; lepromatous and tuberculoid. Both types produce unsightly lesions or patches on the skin but the lepromatous type of leprosy is more severe because if left untreated, it can produce large and unsightly disfigured nodules on the skin. Perhaps the most common reason why people who are infected with leprosy are discriminated and looked down upon is because of the fact that leprosy brings about very unsightly lesions and physical distortions.
LEPROSY SIGNS
The first sign of leprosy is the appearance of whitish hypopigmented or reddish patches which offer no sensation when