Leprosy, a chronic mycobacterial infection caused by Mycobacterium leprae, is an infectious disease that has ravaged human societies throughout millennia. This ancestral pathogen causes disfiguring cutaneous lesions, peripheral nerve injury, ostearticular deformity, limb loss and dysfunction, blindness and stigma. Despite ongoing efforts in interrupting leprosy transmission, large numbers of new cases are persistently identified in many endemic areas. Moreover, at the time of diagnosis, most newly identified cases have considerable neurologic disability. Many challenges remain in our understanding of the epidemiology of leprosy including: (a) the precise mode and route of transmission; (b) the socioeconomic, environmental, and behavioral factors that promote its transmission; and
BT - Annals of clinical microbiology and antimicrobials C1 -http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27209077?dopt=Abstract
DO - 10.1186/s12941-016-0149-x IS - 1 J2 - Ann. Clin. Microbiol. Antimicrob. LA - eng N2 -Leprosy, a chronic mycobacterial infection caused by Mycobacterium leprae, is an infectious disease that has ravaged human societies throughout millennia. This ancestral pathogen causes disfiguring cutaneous lesions, peripheral nerve injury, ostearticular deformity, limb loss and dysfunction, blindness and stigma. Despite ongoing efforts in interrupting leprosy transmission, large numbers of new cases are persistently identified in many endemic areas. Moreover, at the time of diagnosis, most newly identified cases have considerable neurologic disability. Many challenges remain in our understanding of the epidemiology of leprosy including: (a) the precise mode and route of transmission; (b) the socioeconomic, environmental, and behavioral factors that promote its transmission; and
PY - 2016 EP - 33 T2 - Annals of clinical microbiology and antimicrobials TI - Unsolved matters in leprosy: a descriptive review and call for further research. UR - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4875741/pdf/12941_2016_Article_149.pdf VL - 15 SN - 1476-0711 ER -