RESUMO
Leprosy is a human infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae or Mycobacterium lepromatosis that can also occur in animals and even manifest as zoonosis. Recently, both mycobacteria were detected in red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) from the British Isles. To further explore the presence of leprosy bacilli in North-West Europe, we screened Belgian and Dutch squirrels. Tissue samples from 115 animals tested by qPCR were negative for both pathogens. No molecular or pathological evidence was found of the presence of these zoonotic pathogens in North-West Europe.
Assuntos
Hanseníase/veterinária , Mycobacterium leprae/isolamento & purificação , Mycobacterium/isolamento & purificação , Sciuridae/microbiologia , Animais , Bélgica/epidemiologia , Humanos , Hanseníase/microbiologia , Mycobacterium/genética , Mycobacterium leprae/genética , Países Baixos/epidemiologia , Reino Unido/epidemiologia , ZoonosesRESUMO
Father Damien de Veuster, or Saint Damien of Molokai (1840-1889), was one of the pioneers of the holistic approach to care provision for leprosy patients and contributed to the overcoming of the patients' social stigmatization. He devoted his life to the lepers living in America's only leper colony, on the Hawaiian island of Molokai, where people with leprosy were required to live under government-sanctioned medical quarantine. Father Damien gained practical skills in caring for the sick, eagerly learning wound cleansing, bandaging techniques, and drug administration from a nurse. Mahatma Gandhi said that Father Damien's work had inspired his own social campaigns in India.
Assuntos
Hanseníase/história , Bélgica , Havaí , História do Século XIX , Hospitais de Dermatologia Sanitária de Patologia Tropical/história , Hanseníase/terapia , Isolamento de Pacientes/históriaRESUMO
Between 1989 and 1993, 136 multibacillary leprosy patients received a 6-week treatment regimen consisting of daily rifampicin 600 mg, ofloxacin 400 mg, clofazimine 100 mg and a weekly dose of 100 mg minocycline. A previous analysis after a mean follow-up of 4-7 years revealed a relapse rate of 2%, involving six late (after more than 5 years of follow-up) relapses. During the following years, 12 more relapses appeared during years 8-9 of follow-up. A mean follow-up period of 5 years is insufficient to evaluate treatment regimens in multibacillary leprosy. The present regimen cannot be recommended.