Medics reveal resurgence of leprosy, urge gov’t to raise awareness.

The revelation was made by the Chief Medical Officer of the Manyemen Presbyterian Hospital in Kupe-Muanenguba Division of the South West Region, Dr. Samuel Egbe. He also seized the opportunity to plead with the government to reopen all the leprosy centres that had been closed and to step up awareness campaigns.

Dr Egbe was speaking in a recent interview during which he disclosed that they have treated about 500 cases since 2020, some as young as eight and nine years old. According to the medic, hardly a week goes by without them diagnosing a case of leprosy and referring it for treatment. He regretted that just like in ancient times, leprosy patients are shunned and neglected. 

“Leprosy is back. The World Health Organisation says that if you have one leprosy patient in ten thousand that is already an increase. All district hospitals in Cameroon are supposed to receive and treat leprosy patients,” he stated.

Dr. Egbe explained that leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is a chronic infectious disease caused by a Mycobacterium called leprae. He said it mainly affects the skin and peripheral nerves, mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract and eyes, causing disfiguring skin sores and skin infections.

“The main way leprosy is transmitted is by breathing. To contract leprosy, a healthy person must have close contact with a leprosy patient for months. It’s thought that the disease spreads when a person with leprosy coughs or sneezes. If a healthy person repeatedly inhales the infected droplets, the disease can spread,” Dr. Egbe revealed.

He added that there are two types of leprosies; paucibacillary single lesion leprosy, which takes six months to treat, and multibacillary leprosy, which takes nine months to treat.

“If you have leprosy today, you will not die tomorrow; this is the dangerous part of leprosy. It is a slow growing disease with an incubation period of about three to 20 years. One thing about leprosy is that it deforms the patient if not treated in time,” the medic stated.

He added that: “The gold standard of this disease is early detection, early treatment and then the patient is free. But if patients are not treated on time, it becomes dangerous because they continue to spread the disease”.

Dr. Egbe further disclosed that there are still many patients who have not been diagnosed, so their main focus now is carrying out awareness and sensitisation campaigns to find more patients.

“No disease should be taken lightly, and leprosy manifests itself over time. When you see patients with leprosy for about six to seven years, it means that the burden in the community is very high. Finding and putting patients on medication is one ways of stopping the spread of the disease in communities,” he said.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3253 of Tuesday October 08, 2024