Health ministry marks World Leprosy Day |27 January 2007

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae. It is probably spread in the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. The first sign of leprosy is a patch on the skin, usually associated with loss of feeling. Leprosy attacks nerves that are close to the surface of the skin and cool areas of the body such as the fingers and toes.  People infected with leprosy can therefore be easily injured or bruised without them feeling anything.

Leprosy can affect all ages and both sexes. It progresses slowly with an average incubation period of 5 weeks to 30 years. It is curable with Multidrug therapy (MDT) which is a combination of two to three drugs. These drugs kill the bacteria and stop the spread of the disease. Leprosy patients can lead completely normal lives if the disease is detected and treated early.

When left untreated however, leprosy can cause severe disability and blindness. Because it does not have an effective preventive vaccine yet, the key to preventing any disability in leprosy as well as preventing further transmission of the disease is early diagnosis and treatment with MDT.

Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are still being affected by leprosy every year. In 2005 for example, nearly 300, 000 new cases were reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Even for the Seychelles, leprosy has not yet been eradicated. As our table shows, a total of 20 cases have been reported in the Seychelles during the past ten years.