Essay On Leprosy

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Leprosy is an infectious disease that has been around for hundreds of years. In those times people feared leprosy and thought it incurable. They would shun the infected, and make them wear bells on their necks so people could hear when they were coming down the street. “Leprosy is caused by a slow-growing type of bacteria called mycobacterium leprae" (Leprosy Overview, 2013). It can take up to 3-5 years for symptoms to start showing after coming in contact with the bacteria. The way to catch leprosy is to come into contact with an untreated person’s nose and mouth droplets. Symptoms of leprosy are “disfiguring skin sores, lumps or bumps that do not go away” (Leprosy Overview, 2013). In contrast to the old belief that leprosy is incurable, it can actually be taken care of with six months to a year of antibiotic treatments. Leprosy is still around today as about 200 people in the U.S. are infected every year. With treatment though, in the past 20 years more than 14 million people have been cured. The World Health Organization provides free treatment to all those infected. …show more content…

It is caused by the yersinia pestis bacteria. It was known as the Black Death in the 1300s, killing about 20-30 million people in Europe. This strain of the plague infects the lymph system and they become inflamed. Symptoms occur much faster than with Leprosy; within 3-7 days people will start to develop flu-like symptoms. However, similar to Leprosy the bubonic plague can be treated with antibiotics. Of course, because of its fast-acting nature early diagnoses and treatment is key to help cure it. The bubonic plague is rarely spread person to person and is transmitted instead when a

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