KATHMANDU: Around 3,000 leprosy patients are diagnosed in Nepal every year despite claims of elimination of the disease a decade ago.
Leprosy is curable disease unlike in the past. Delay in treatment or in case of absence of treatment, it may cause significant disfigurement, causing damages to skin, nerves, limbs and eyes, according to doctors.
Delayed awareness about the disease exists in Nepal as its noticeable symptom-patches on skin- becomes visible late as it grows slowly. This, as doctors say, is the reason behind most cases. Moreover, patients reach the medical facilities only when the disease affects the limbs and other organs leading to vulnerability of mutilation.
The disease is caused by the bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae. Red or lesions on skin and lack of sensation are the signs of early stage of leprosy.
According to the Lele-based Anandawan Hospital, which provides the treatment for this bacterial infectious disease, the disease first attacks the nervous system. “The affected ones are prescribed treatment of the nervous system and the leprosy treatment gets medically postponed,” leprosy specialist Dr Mahesh Shah informed.
The hospital statistics show that among the patients arriving in the hospital, some 10 percent do not manifest skin lesions.
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