Leprosy was once perceived by people as a terrible disease. Today she is successfully treated by doctors. In Russia, there are 3 specialized institutions where patients are monitored. Depending on the severity of the course, certain types of drugs are prescribed. In any case, significant success has been achieved in recent years regarding the control of disease manifestations.
Leprozorium - what is it and why is it created?
Leprozorium is an institution where leprosy patients are located. They are fully provided by the state. Due to the presence of combined treatment, their condition rarely becomes neglected. Such therapy gives an excellent effect.
Medical professionals often say that there are practically no people with an active form of leprosy. For this reason, they no longer have to exist in conditions of absolute isolation. Often they are allowed to go home to allow them to see relatives. Increasingly, information is heard about the death of patients from old age, and not manifestations of leprosy.
A whole separate colony where patients live is a leper colony. What can an institution give people? First of all, this is a feeling of freedom and the absence of a squeamish attitude from others. They often marry, have children, and generally live like ordinary people. In addition to the hospital itself, a variety of facilities are often present on the territory to support the lives of local residents. They try to enjoy simple little things, work in the fields, breed animals.
Perhaps in the next decade the last leper colony will disappear from the face of the Earth. What is leprosy, people are likely to no longer recognize. At least throughout the world there is a tendency to a gradual reduction in the number of hospitals of this type. This is due to a decrease in the incidence. But at the same time, in India, for example, there are still a lot of cases of infection with Hansen's wand. It is believed that the reason for this is poor sanitary conditions in the country.
How can I get infected?
Many have heard the song of the Crematorium group Leprozorium about people with this terrible ailment. Only close and prolonged contact can lead to infection. But even when faced with a pathogen, the role of which is played by mycobacterium leprosy, you can stay healthy. It all depends on the specific organism. Most people have innate immunity. Only 20% of the world's population is susceptible.
Today, as in the last century, they are placed in leper colony lepers. The causative agent is transmitted by airborne droplets, as well as through the personal belongings of the patient. This is mainly clothes. It is noteworthy that among animals only chimpanzees and armadillos get sick. But this requires artificial infection.
Symptoms
Diagnosis of the disease is very difficult, because the incubation period can be very long. Sometimes it is only 6 months, but more often it reaches several years. There are cases when leprosy did not make itself felt for 40 years!
If Hansen’s wand activates, so-called precursors appear. They are in the following symptoms:
- pain in the head and joints;
- weakness and fatigue;
- temperature rise;
- polyneuritis.
Further, skin manifestations are noted. On their basis, doctors usually make a diagnosis. They are expressed in the formation of nodules, as well as areas with dark or discolored spots.
Forms
Several forms of the disease can be distinguished:
- Lepromatous. A person complains of loss of sensitivity in certain areas of the body. On the surface of the skin spots with a clear boundary are visible. After that, there is inflammation of the nerves, insomnia, pain. A characteristic feature is the deformation of the limbs. Also, the patient with this form can be distinguished by the so-called lion face. The hairs drop out of the eyebrows, and the fold between them thickens.
- Tuberculoid. It is considered the least contagious form. Moreover, she is considered more benign. On the skin, you can notice flaky areas that have lost sensitivity. As in the previous case, neuritis occurs. It is impossible to predict the outcome.
- Juvenile. It occurs in children. The disease is characterized by good health. Patients complain only of a large number of hard-to-see spots on the skin.
- Indefinite form, the most favorable. Polyneuritis is combined with a small amount of spots on the surface of the skin. After a few months, all manifestations go away by themselves, and the patient recovers.
The most terrible places on the planet
The most famous in Russia are institutions for monitoring leprosy patients located in Astrakhan and the Caucasus. Interestingly, an island is often chosen to host colonies. The leper colony was built on the territory of one of them in Korea. Another place - Spinalonga - is very popular among tourists. In general, an unusual connection can be traced between the isolation of natural objects and their terrible history.
It would seem that treatment and rehabilitation of people is what the leper colony has been created for. What such a place can tell terrible? It turns out that not everything is so harmless. As for the island of Forty, then, according to rumors, among its inhabitants there are no longer patients with leprosy. However, they are still not allowed to come to the mainland. The fact is that despite the absence of a pathogen in the body, the appearance of people reflects traces of its activity. Thus, in the 21st century, absolutely healthy Koreans with certain physical deformities are forced to live in an isolated place.
Spinalonga is another island where the leper colony is located. True, little is left of him. Families with leprosy were sent here by entire families. They were settled in small houses and supplied with food. They did not have to rely on medical assistance. It was not permitted to marry, but this prohibition was not respected. If a healthy child was born in two patients, he was taken and sent to the mainland. After the invention of the vaccine, the inhabitants of the island were completely cured and left its borders.