(AKA Hansen’s disease) Leprosy (AKA Hansen’s disease)

How contagious is IT? Leprosy can only be caught by being in close and repeated contact with fluids from an untreated person’s mouth and nose So in other words Leprosy isn’t very contagious but its always good to be cautious

History of Leprosy The earliest possible case of Leprosy is around 1550 B.C. Indians wrote about what sounded like leprosy in 600 B.C. 1873: Dr. Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen found the germ that causes leprosy 1941: They found that promin was also a cure other than chaulmoogra oil injections 1950s: dapsone pill became a famous treatment for leprosy

Symptoms and how they diagnose leprosy The two main symptoms of leprosy are disfigurement and nerve damage How they diagnose leprosy other than by the symptoms is by doing a skin biopsy If they catch it early the least you can get away with is prevented or limited nerve damage At worst case you will end up with sensory loss( cant feel stuff), permanent nerve damage, muscle weakness, and progressive disfigurement

Cure and Prevention Leprosy is cured by taking prescribed antibiotics from six moths to a year The nerve damage is treated using anti-inflammatory Right now the best way to prevent yourself from getting leprosy is by getting a vaccine known as Bacillus Calnette-Guemin which also helps protect against tuberculosis.

Honorable mentions There are only two people who had leprosy worth mentioning and they are Balwin 4th of Jerusalem who was portrayed in the film Kingdom of Heaven Saint Damien DeVuster A roman catholic priest that preached to lepers on the island of Molokai of the kingdom of Hawai’i

Web sources https://web.stanford.edu/group/parasites/ParaSit es2005/Leprosy/history.htm http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and- treatments/guide/leprosy-symptoms-treatments- history http://patient.info/doctor/leprosy-pro https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leprosy www.medscape.com/viewarticle/776165

Songs Shatter me by Lindsey Stirling feat. Lizzie Hale Elements by Lindsey Stirling