This is an infectious disease that has caused the world to suffer for more than 1400 years. Because the disease is contagious, the patient is shunned and stigmatized. How humans defeated it This is an infectious disease that has caused the world to suffer for more than 1400 years. Because the disease is contagious, the patient is shunned and stigmatized. How did humans beat it?
This article’s Professor and Doctor of Dermatology Duong Hy Xuyen (China) talk about the history of leprosy and the miracles that humans have fought to overcome this evil disease.
When you hear the word “leprosy”, what comes to mind first?
“Phong Village” is forgotten
Without a doubt, most people have this idea first in mind.
This is a somewhat frightening and remote topic, this bizarre disease has been too distant for us in the 21st century, far enough away to be forgotten.
Fifty years ago, hundreds of thousands of shunned leprosy people were still living in China, now it is hard to see them. The miserable patients are inherently seen as symbols of sin: leprosy and death are equated.
Leprosy is a chronic bacterial illness that can be written as leprosy, but it has nothing to do with madness. Perhaps to avoid such misunderstandings, this disease is often referred to as “leprosy”.
But everyone’s association with it is not only madness, but also represents bright red eyes, short fingers, festering wounds, amputated feet, distorted appearance and even death. miserable.
For thousands of years, leprosy has been considered an evil disease, even a symbol of evil, and under the tragic fate of leprosy patients, they continue to be tortured both physically and mentally, This is beyond our imagination.
In the old era, when medical technology was limited, medical equipment was scarce, leprosy was basically determined to be incurable since it had regionally contagious properties, the only way to Control of fluid growth is isolating the patient.
So, on the mountain, on an isolated island, a group of leprosy villages were built so that the sick lived there. There is no specific medicine or vaccine, and untreated self-resisting patients will continue to develop ulcers and disfigurement until they become paralyzed or even die.
Over time, people misunderstood, dispelled, and feared it, and the “scary” Phong was now a trademark of terror.
The end of the leprosy era
The leprosy history is long, stretching for 1400 years, like an endless nightmare.
It was not until 1874 that the Norwegian physician Hansen (GerhardH.A.Hansen) broke the darkness that he discovered the culprit – the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae.
Symptoms caused by Mycobacterium leprosy bacteria are manifested in the skin, peripheral nerves, mucosa of the upper respiratory tract and eyes, if not treated promptly can lead to blindness or deformity, disability and other consequences.
In other words, once leprosy is found, the disability rate will be very high. However, if the disability is detected early and treated promptly, the disability can be cured.
In current medical conditions, leprosy is already an easy-to-diagnose and treatable disease, currently in clinical use mainly a combination of many drugs and chemotherapy treatments, which can cure leprosy. Within 6-24 months, the contagiousness of the disease may disappear after a week of taking the drug.
Usually, if the patient unfortunately gets the disease, the patient does not need to have negative psychology and bewildered when treating this disease, on the one hand it will not be inherited, on the other hand, the survival rate of bacteria in vitro is low.
Generally, they can be destroyed by disinfection, most people have natural immunity (according to survey statistics with 90% or more), extremely low incidence, when infected. Nor does it need isolation, just treatment.
Darkness has long passed, the era when leprosy is “incurable disease” has been shortened by history. At present, there are basically few new cases, there is no so-called “leprosy village”, only more than 3,000 elderly people in community rehabilitation villages have survived the disease, but have also incapable of working, still facing sequelae.
Leprosy is not terrible
Although leprosy is rare, but because it is very similar to the symptoms of other diseases, it is possible to misdiagnose or omit the disease, so the prevention and treatment cannot be relaxed.
On the other hand, leprosy is a disease with a dark history. Even modern people will still have a lack of sympathy towards patients with fear of leprosy, which has become the biggest obstacle to leprosy prevention today.
So sometimes, it is not the terminal illness, but the hearts of people. Of course, society is not without action.
The last Sunday of January every year is “World leprosy Day”, many countries will organize many activities on this day to mobilize social forces to help leprosy patients overcome difficulties in their life. live and work to eliminate prejudice and discrimination.
There are also many volunteers entering the rehabilitation village, sharing, chatting, even eating, living together, giving care, warm care and making their best contributions. can.
The original purpose of writing this article was to hope everyone to have a correct understanding of leprosy, not to be bound by inherent impressions of the past. Leprosy is not as formidable and frightening as we can imagine. It can be seen from a scientific perspective, it will reduce the superficial evaluation and alienate the patient.
- According to The Paper
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