Probably no one needs to explain who a leper or a leper is. These are people with leprosy - a serious infectious chronic disease that affects the skin, nervous system, eyes and some internal organs. This word came to Russian from late Latin, where it sounds like leprosus, which is consonant with Latin leprosorium.
In medical terms, a leper or a leper is a patient who is diagnosed with chronic granulomatosis caused by the microbacteria Mycobacterium lepromatosis and Mycobacterium leprae.
History of leprosy
The named disease has been known since ancient times and is mentioned in the Bible. Hippocrates wrote about leprosy, but he probably confused it with psoriasis. In ancient India, they also knew about leprosy. And in the Middle Ages, many leper colonies appeared, as the disease passed into the stage of an epidemic. So, in the XIII century, according to Matthew of Paris, an English historian, Benedictine, chronicler, in Europe the number of lepers was 19 thousand people. The first well known leper colony was Saint Nicholas at Harbledown in Kent, England.
In the Middle Ages, a leper or a leper is an outcast of society, doomed to die in terrible agony. Such a person was placed in a leper colony, as if to be cured. But in fact, it was a quarantine, from which few people managed to get out alive. The fact is that leprosy is transmitted through discharge from the mouth and nose during frequent and close contact with people. And in the leprosarium, contacts are more than close and frequent.
Leprosy in the modern world
In the 90s of the last century, the number of lepers in the world decreased from 10-12 million people to 1.8 million. Leprosy mainly spreads in tropical countries, where nature has created suitable conditions for the life of microbacteria. Although cases have declined, the disease is still quite widespread in India, Nepal, parts of Brazil, Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar and the Western Pacific. The World He alth Organization in 2000 published a list of countries with outbreaks of the disease. Burma is third in terms of the number of infected, Brazil is second, and India is first.
It is important to know that the incubation period for leprosy is very long, 4-6 years on average, and sometimes extended by 10-15 years. The duration of drug therapy, depending on the degree and severity of the disease, can last from 3 to 10 years.
Book "Lepers"
People suffering from this disease also became heroes of literary works. So, in 1959, the novel by Georgy Shilin was republished"Lepers". The book describes the life of a leper colony. It should be said that the author himself repeatedly visited this institution, visiting a sick friend there, and even lived there.
"Lepers" is a story about the fate of various people who ended up in one place - in a leper colony. Each story touches and shakes to the core. There are a lot of heroes, but the character of each is unique - it's hard to get confused in them. Thus, the chief physician of the leper colony, Dr. Turkeev, belongs to a rare type of people who are not interested in either fame or money, and who devote themselves entirely to serving their chosen cause. Free of charge (unfortunately, a now forgotten word). Shilin's style is beautiful, emotional, bright, expressive.
In Poland in 1976 the film "The Leper" was filmed. This is a love story of a simple girl and a noble nobleman who will not leave anyone indifferent.
Finally, we note that lepers, whose photos can be found in sufficient numbers on the Internet, are affected by this disease to varying degrees, and sometimes it is not clear from a person that he is sick. Therefore, observe the rules of personal hygiene, avoid close contact with people who are suspicious, especially if you are on vacation in tropical countries. Stay he althy!
