Hansens Lepresy
Since the beginning of time, Hansen's disease has been
recognized as a problem. Reported in Egypt in as early as 1350
BC, Lepresy is the oldest disease known to man; this is
according to the Guinness World Records. Frequently, Lepers have
lived outside of society. This is partly due to the fact that
for a long time the disease was believed to have been caused by
a divine, often times associated with demons, curse or
punishment. This idea changed in the middle ages, when people
started to beleive that lepers are loved by God, and that it is
humans that have cursed them
Another reason for secluding the Lepers what that in the past it
was believed that leprosy was highly contagious. If was even
taken to the extent that leprosy could be spread by the glance
of a leper or an unseen leper standing upwind of healthy people.
Today we know that the disease is much less contagious than we
once believed in the past. Lepresy is caused by a mycobacterium that
will multiply at a very slow rate. The disease mainly affects
the skin, nerves, and mucous membranes. The organism has never
been grown in cell culture, because of the difficulty that is
involved with doing so. This difficulty is as a result of the
fact that the organism is an obligate intra-cellular parasite.
This means that it lacks many necessary genes for independent
survival. This is also evident and provides proof for it having
such a slow rate of replication.
Uncertain today, is the method of transmission of Hansen's
disease. Many people beleive that it is spread person to person
in respiratory droplets. What we do know though, is that most of
the population is naturally immune to the disease. The disease
is chronic, and often times patients are classified as having
paucibacillary, which is a form of multibacillary Hansen's
disease.