Leprosy was used to symbolize sins in the Bible, see Matthews 8:2. The term “Leprosy” was mentioned 68 times – according to my PocketPC Bible study guide – running on Windows Mobile 6.1 AT&T HTC Tilt smart phone. I presume the term “Leprosy” was referring to the infectious skin disease.
I searched the Internet for photos on leprosy, some of the symptoms were pretty disgusting, and others were more bearable to watch. Reading the bible passage, I had an impression that leprosy was common illness in the past, but how did we discover treatment and eliminated the disease among us.
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Dr. Gerhard Armauer Hansen, a Norwegian scientist, first discovered the Mycobacterium leprae , the cause of leprosy in 1873. Antibiotics like rifampin, dapsone, and clofazimine are used in combination to treat leprosy – bacteria – aka Hansen’s disease.
Here is the interesting part - Mycobacterium leprae are part of the family Mycobacteriaceae. This is the same family as the bacteria that cause tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis). Can one associate densely populated developing nations with the epidemic spread of TB and leprosy?
From http://diseases.emedtv.com/leprosy/leprosy.html
Quote #1 “The number of new leprosy cases detected worldwide was 763,917; 96 cases occurring in the United States
Quote #2 “The World Health Organization (WHO) listed Brazil, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Nepal as having 90 percent of leprosy cases that year. “
It’s shocking statistic to me, that over763,000 new leprosy cases were detected in 2002. In a world population growth of 75-80 million/year, it translates the leprosy infection rate of 1 in 100. Wow – tuberculosis and leprosy aren’t going away anytime soon.
