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- title = Leopracy (decease)
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- Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease that affects the skin and the mucous membranes,
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- especially those in the nose and in the peripheral nervous system. Leprosy is not usually fatal,
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- however, patients with untreated infections may develop crippled hands and or feet. Leprosy
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- results from infection by a rod-shaped bacterium called mycobacterium leprae, sometimes
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- known as hansens bacillus.
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- Leprosy infections occurs primarily in human beings, armadillos, chimpanzees and
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- Mangabey monkeys. Researchers do not know how the bacteria is transmitted. Evidence show
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- it is caused by inhaling the bacteria or from skin to skin contact. Leprosy resist infection and
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- develop immunity after this exposure. Only a few develop the disease.
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- Symptoms of leprosy typically appear three to five years after infection. The cheif
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- symptoms of leprosy include white or reddish patches of skin, the loss of feeling in the skin and
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- thickened nerves. The skin may also thicken, and dark lumps may appear on many parts of the
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- body.
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- If this disease is not treated, nerves can become severely damaged, causing weekness
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- in the hands and or feet. As a result the fingers and toes may curl inward. If M. leprae enter the
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- eyes, a painful inflamation called iritis can occur. In severe casas, the bacteria can cause
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- blindness.
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- PLEASE CONTINUE FROM HERE. (hey, at least is this
- far done!)
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