Patient Perspective: Leprosy

Leprosy—Reason for Exile in the Old World

Tales of leprosy date back to biblical times. During those times, leprosy was thought to be transmitted by contact with infected people. To decrease the possibility of catching the disease, leprosy sufferers were often shunned. "...[I]n Europe during the Middle Ages, leprosy sufferers had to wear special clothing, ring bells to warn others that they were close, and even walk on a particular side of the road, depending on the direction of the wind. Even in modern times, leprosy treatment has often occurred in separate hospitals and live-in colonies called leprosariums because of the stigma of the disease."⁹⁸ However, new medicines continue to combat leprosy infections, and the number of known cases is falling.



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Endnotes:

98 "History of Leprosy," Leprosy, http://www.stanford.edu/class/humbio103/ParaSites2005/Leprosy/history.htm (accessed 4 October 2005).