How do people get leprosy?
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Hi, my uncle is 69 years old and he has neurological problems. Doctor has advised that he should be tested for leprosy. We in our family got very tensed after knowing this. We belong to an affluent background. Still we cant figure out how this disease can occur? Does it transmit? How do people get this disease?
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@lisha It is not known exactly how Hansen’s disease spreads between people. Scientists currently think it may happen when a person with Hansen’s disease coughs or sneezes, and a healthy person breathes in the droplets containing the bacteria. Prolonged, close contact with someone with untreated leprosy over many months is needed to catch the disease.
You cannot get leprosy from a casual contact with a person who has Hansen’s disease like:
Shaking hands or hugging
Sitting next to each other on the bus
Sitting together at a meal
Hansen’s disease is also not passed on from a mother to her unborn baby during pregnancy and it is also not spread through sexual contact.
Due to the slow-growing nature of the bacteria and the long time it takes to develop signs of the disease, it is often very difficult to find the source of infection.