Father Damien was a Roman Catholic missionary who helped lepers on the Hawaiian island of Molokai and also died of the disease.
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Leprosy

Leprosy, sometimes known as Hansen's disease, is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, an aerobic, acid fast, rod-shaped mycobacterium. The modern term for the disease is named after the discoverer of the bacterium, Gerhard Armauer Hansen. more...

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Sufferers of Hansen's disease have historically been known as lepers, however this term is falling into disuse as a result of the diminishing number of leprosy patients and the pejorative connotations of the term. In fact the term now that is most widely accepted among people and agencies working in the field of leprosy is 'people affected by leprosy'. The terms "leprosy" and "lepers" can also lead to public misunderstanding because the Bible uses these terms in reference to a wide range of skin conditions other than Hansen's disease.

Historically, leprosy was an incurable and disfiguring disease. Lepers were shunned and sequestered in leper colonies. Today, leprosy is easily curable by multidrug antibiotic therapy. The main challenges in the eradication of Hansen's disease is in reaching populations that have not yet received multidrug therapy services, improving detection of the disease, and providing patients with high-quality services and affordable drugs.

Other than humans, the only animals known to be susceptible to leprosy are the armadillo, mangabe monkeys, rabbits, and mice (on their footpads).

History

Hansen's disease has been recognized as a problem since the beginning of recorded history. It has been reported as early as 1350 BC in Egypt. "The oldest recorded disease" or "the oldest known disease" is a title given to this disease , as well as arthritis , gout , anthrax , schistosomiasis , and many other diseases. Lepers have frequently lived on the edge of society, and the disease was believed for a long time to have been caused by a divine (or demonic) curse or punishment. However, in the Middle Ages it was believed that lepers are cursed by humans, but loved by God.

During the Middle Ages, it was believed that leprosy was highly contagious and could be spread by the glance of a leper or an unseen leper standing upwind of healthy people. Nowadays, it is known that leprosy is only weakly contagious.

Minorities like the Navarrese agotes or French cagots were accused of being lepers.

Clinical features

The disease is caused by a mycobacterium which multiplies very slowly and mainly affects the skin, nerves, and mucous membranes. The organism has never been grown in bacteriologic media or cell culture, but has been grown in mouse foot pads and more recently in nine-banded armadillos. It is related to M. tuberculosis, the mycobacterium that causes tuberculosis. The difficulty in culturing the organism appears to be due to the fact that the organism is an obligate intra-cellular parasite that lacks many necessary genes for independent survival. The complex and unique cell wall that makes mycobacterium family difficult to destroy is apparently also the reason for the extremely slow replication rate.

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Over 100 specimens of fetuses, babies kept at ex-leprosy sanitariums
From Japan Policy & Politics, 1/31/05

TOKYO, Jan. 27 Kyodo

More than 100 preserved specimens of fetuses and newborn babies of leprosy patients were found at five state-run sanitariums and a research center in Japan, including 29 that were likely killed after birth, according to a government council report released Thursday.

The third-party council, set up by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to investigate the government's quarantine policy on leprosy that lasted until 1996 found that illegal abortions and autopsies were rampant at the facilities.

''This kind of behavior existed in national sanitariums across the country. It is far from adhering to medical ethics and has continued to damage the dignity of those placed in the facilities more than any other issue,'' the council report said.

In addition, the council also found that the facilities had more than 2,000 specimens from autopsies of leprosy patients after they died.

The council advises that a memorial service be held in due respect for the specimens.

The council plans to urge the ministry to take appropriate measures as soon as possible, including filing reports to the police and other authorities.

Until the Leprosy Prevention Law was repealed in 1996, Japan segregated leprosy patients in isolated sanitariums for decades, even after it was learned that leprosy, now known in medical terms as Hansen's disease, is not highly contagious.

The sanitariums had maintained the basic policy of isolating the patients and waiting for them to die out, and therefore did not permit them to give birth in most cases. As a result, forced abortions and sterilizations were common, the council said.

According to the survey, 80 percent of the 114 specimens of fetuses and newborns had not been operated on. The council believes that they were not kept for research, but simply because the facilities did not know what to do with them.

Among the specimens, 57 were found to have been produced between 1924 and 1956. Of these, more than 60 percent were collected prior to 1948 when abortion was allowed under the Eugenic Protection Law. Abortions performed after 1948 were still illegal as the patient's consent was not obtained.

Twenty-nine of all the specimens found were estimated to have been babies born after eight months of pregnancy.

Based on witness accounts by former patients, the council said it believes staff members may have choked the babies to death soon after birth, which would constitute murder under the Penal Code.

A landmark court ruling in May 2001 found the parliament and the government responsible for the suffering of leprosy patients by failing to repeal the leprosy prevention law until 1996 and ordered the state to pay compensation for forcing the patients into isolation.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who took office only a month before the ruling, made a surprise move in deciding the government would not appeal. The Diet later passed a resolution of apology to the patients and a law to provide compensation.

Still, former leprosy patients continue to face discrimination in Japanese society, including a case in September 2003 where a hotel in Kumamoto Prefecture refused to accept former patients as guests.

COPYRIGHT 2005 Kyodo News International, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group

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