Leprosy

Leprosy is caused by Mycobacterium leprae, a bacterium  that preferably invades the nerve Schwann cells and macrophages. Leprosy has a long incubation period of 2-5 five years. The vast majority of infected persons mount an efficient immune response and clinical symptoms never appear (subclinical infection). The symptoms of clinical leprosy vary according to the immune response of the patient, the so-called leprosy spectrum.

Epidemiology
Around 300,000 people in the world are currently receiving leprosy treatment. Despite control efforts and the availability of a very efficient treatment regimen, the number of new cases detected each year has remained more or less stable over the past decade. Because of the severe handicaps that result from skin and peripheral nerve damage that remains even after treatment, leprosy is associated with social stigma and economic loss. Thus, the problem of leprosy is greater than the number of cases would suggest.

Diagnosis
Early diagnosis is key to the interruption of leprosy transmission. The diagnosis of leprosy is based on clinical signs and symptoms that can be recognized by a trained health worker. In endemic countries the diagnosis is usually made clinically on the presence of anaesthetic skin lesions, thickened nerves, and, if suitable laboratory facilities are available, the presence of M.leprae in slit skin smears.

Considering that leprosy control programmes are being integrated into the general health services, diagnostic criteria are being loosened and treatment schedules shortened, the use of modern molecular and immunological tools could be valuable aids to efforts to control leprosy.

Leprosy research activities at KIT Biomedical Research
KIT Biomedical Research has a long-time commitment to leprosy research. We were the first to describe a PCR for leprosy diagnosis, were the first to develop a leprosy dipstick and one of the first to instigate clinical trials to prevent leprosy with modern antibiotics.