Leprosy still lurks in United States, study says

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Source: https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/21/healt...udy/index.html

Leprosy still lurks in United States, study says
By Maggie Veatch, CNN
Updated 4:02 AM ET, Thu February 21, 2019


CNN)Leprosy is a disease most people think ended in the Middle Ages, but a new study shows that it's not a thing of the past. Mayo Clinic researchers wanted to understand how common it was in their clinic after a patient was diagnosed with the disease in March 2017. In the clinic's electronic health records, they found nine patients diagnosed with leprosy over a 23-year period.

The study authors emphasized that, though it's rare, the disease should still be considered when diagnosing patients.
"This is not a disease that the average person in the United States has to worry about, but if they develop a rash and have extensive travel to a place where it is common, then they should bring it to the attention of their provider," said study author and dermatologist Dr. Spencer A. Bezalel.
According to the World Health Organization, those places include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Brazil. Each of those countries reported 1,000 new cases of leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease, in the past five years...

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Dr Marc Siegel writes -

I also believe that homeless areas are at risk for the reemergence of another deadly ancient disease ? leprosy, also known as Hansen?s disease. Leprosy involves a mycobacteria (tuberculosis is another mycobacteria) that is very difficult to transmit and very easy to treat with a cocktail of three antibiotics.
Yet according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are more than 200,000 new cases of leprosy reported in the world every year, with two-thirds of them in India, home to one-third of the world?s poor. The poor are disproportionately affected by this disease because close quarters, poor sanitation, and lack of prompt diagnosis or treatment easily can convert a disease that should be rare to one that is more common.

According to the CDC, there are between 100 and 200 new cases of leprosy reported in the U.S. every year. A study just released from the Keck Medical Center at the University of Southern California looked at 187 leprosy patients treated at its clinic from 1973 to 2018 and found that most were Latino, originating from Mexico, where the disease is somewhat more common, and that there was on average a three-year delay in diagnosis, during which time the side effects of the disease — usually irreversible, even with treatment — began to occur.
Leprosy is still more prevalent in Central America and South America, with more than 20,000 new cases per year. Given that, there is certainly the possibility of sporadic cases of leprosy continuing to be brought across our southern border undetected.
And it seems only a matter of time before leprosy could take hold among the homeless population in an area such as Los Angeles County, with close to 60,000 homeless people and 75 percent of those lacking even temporary shelter or adequate hygiene and medical treatment. All of those factors make a perfect cauldron for a contagious disease that is transmitted by nasal droplets and respiratory secretions with close repeated contact.

https://thehill.com/opinion/healthca...-plague-threat

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Leprosy is an ancient disease, the oldest disease known to be associated with humans, with evidence of characteristic bone pitting and deformities found in burial sites in India as far back as 2000 B.C.
It?s thus only natural that many might think the disease is a relic of the past. My studies in 2018 in a Brazilian state where the disease is prevalent shows that leprosy is closer to us than we might think, however. The disease is growing in armadillos. And while these animals are not exactly the cuddly type to which humans are drawn, armadillo-to-human contact is spreading. And, when the species do interact, armadillos are giving leprosy back.

http://theconversation.com/humans-ga...ck-to-us-99915