![]() The state of ritual impurity known to the Hebrews as tzara'ath ( צָרַעַת, "struck") seems to have been a conflation of various skin disorders, owing to the undeveloped state of medical science at that period. Famously, the "leprosy" of most translations of the Bible as far back as the Septuagint represents a multilayered historical process of confusion. The ability to use historical records to trace the spread and treatment of leprosy in antiquity is greatly limited by confusion over which skin diseases were being discussed. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization. The term 'leprosy' is still used by the U.S. Because of the stigma to patients, some prefer not to use the word 'leprosy', preferring 'Hansen's disease'. In the 21st century, this term is falling into disuse as a result of the diminishing number of leprosy patients. Throughout history, individuals with leprosy have been known as lepers. ![]() A roughly contemporaneous use is attested in the Anglo-Norman Dialogues of Saint Gregory, "Esmondez i sont li lieprous" ( Anglo-Norman Dictionary, s.v., "leprus"). The first attested English use is in the Ancrene Wisse, a 13th century manual for nuns ("Moyseses hond.bisemde o þe spitel uuel & þuhte lepruse." The Middle English Dictionary, s.v., "leprous"). The word came into the English language via Latin and old French. Λέπος (Lepos) in ancient Greek means peel, or scale so from Λέπος derives Λεπερός ( Λεπερός, "who has peels – scales") and then Λεπρός ("leprous"). The word leprosy comes from ancient Greek Λέπρα, "a disease that makes the skin scaly", in turn, a nominal derivation of the verb Λέπω, "to peel, scale off". These three anti-leprosy drugs are still used in the standard MDT regimens. Multi-drug therapy (MDT) combining all three drugs was first recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations in 1981. ![]() Later, Indian scientist Shantaram Yawalkar and his colleagues formulated a combined therapy using rifampicin and dapsone, intended to mitigate bacterial resistance. The search for additional anti-leprosy drugs led to the use of clofazimine and rifampicin in the 1960s and 1970s. It was not until the 1940s that the first effective treatment, promin, became available. They were given by injection and orally, and were believed to cure some people, but results were often disputed. From the 19th century, European nations adopted some practices of India and China, administering naturally occurring oils. This was the first bacterium to be identified as causing disease in humans. Armauer Hansen in Norway discovered the causative agent of leprosy, Mycobacterium leprae. This confirmed the spread of the disease along the migration, colonisation, and slave trade routes taken from East Africa to India, West Africa to the New World, and from Africa into Europe and vice versa. They created a map of the dissemination of leprosy in the world. The four strains of M. leprae are based in specific geographic regions where each predominantly occurs: Strain 1 – East Africa, Asia, and the Pacific region Strain 2 – Ethiopia, Malawi, Nepal/North India, and New Caledonia Strain 3 – Europe, North Africa, and the Americas and Strain 4 – West Africa and the Caribbean. (2005) determined that leprosy originated in East Africa or the Near East and traveled with humans along their migration routes, including those of trade in goods and slaves. The history of leprosy was traced to its origins by an international team of 22 geneticists using comparative genomics of the worldwide distribution of Mycobacterium leprae.
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