Epidemiology of Leprosy

Leprosy is a chronic infection caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae. Leprosy mainly attack the peripheral nerves of the patient, skin, and also the upper respiratory tract mucous. In other parts of the world, leprosy are also called as Morbus Hansen.

Although leprosy is a very old disease, since the document of this disease runs back in the era of Jesus in which many of the characters in the Bible were infected with Leprosy. The understanding of this disease is somewhat limited. This is due to the characteristic of M.leprae that cannot be grown in test tubes.

In the 1990s World Health Organization (WHO) launch a campaign to eradicate Leprosy, which is considered as one of the public health problem in the world by 2000. WHO defined eradication as less than 1 per 10.000 population is having this disease. Globally, the campaign is successful in meeting its target, however many countries in the world have difficulty in meeting the target. From the Leprosy: Global Situation report of the World Health Organization, in 2010, the number of new case of leprosy detected in the world is 228,474. Much less than year 2004 in which 407,791 new cases were detected.

What is most important in the epidemiology of leprosy is the stigma attached to the patient with leprosy. Because the clinical symptoms of this disease is easily visible from outside, patient with this disease are usually shunned by the society. It is imperative to help the society to understand leprosy fully in order to stop the prejudice against those with this disease.

Leprosy is not a genetic disease. The method of transmission of this disease is largely unknown, however it is believed that prolonged skin to skin contact is one of the etiologic factor. Droplet of M.leprae is one of the other method that is thought to have importance in the transmission.