The truth is that there are definitely not many cases of leprosy that appear these days. The disease is quite remote and a lot less common. While this is definitely a good thing, it has a negative aspect as not many people know about the treatment that can be used. That is what we will go through right now.
The good news is that you do not have too many problems in the treatment of leprosy. The bad news is that a diagnosis needs to be present and whenever you see symptoms that are associated with the disease, you have to go to the doctor as soon as possible.
Common Drugs Used In The Treatment Of Leprosy
Unfortunately, this is a disease that is treated through MDT (multidrug therapy). You cannot use just one drug in order to treat is as many are necessary.
Dapsone stands out as a common one since it is a bactericidal that works great against M. Leprae. This is the drug that was really common in the past and it is still used today but not when the patient suffers from a strain that is resistant to it. When that is noticed, therapy becomes slower and the doctor will try to reduce medication resistance development. We thus see Rifampicin added to the mix, usually when dealing with paucibacillary leprosy. Multibacillary leprosy is treated by a combination of dapsone, clofazimine and rifampicin.
Is One Treatment Enough?
Combination therapy sometimes works with just a single session of medication. The doctor will use rifampicin (a dose of 600 mg), minocycline (a dose of 100 mg) and ofloxacin (a dose of 400 mg). Children will take ½ of the adult dose.
Multi-Day Treatment Of Leprosy
In the event that you traveled to an area where you were faced with a possible leprosy infection, you can take one of the medication kits that are designed to basically treat all types of leprosy. One of the kits will include enough medication for 1 month and it is a really good idea to take everything since the disease is really serious.
In the event that you have positive skin smear, a suitable MDT regime designed for the treatment of multibacillary leprosy is needed. This basically means that when the diagnosis is not 100% certain, the mentioned treatment is the one that has to be considered.
Extra Check-ups Necessary
Countries that still see leprosy cases do not usually have great health service coverage. This is not a good thing since patients will need to go to leprosy clinics once per month in order to be sure that treatment is going well. If this trip is not possible, a third party like a community person or a family member needs to be responsible
The Doctor Is Your Best Friend
Leprosy can be treated but you need supervision. It is not something that we can take lightly. You have to respect the indications of the doctor and if any symptom appears, the faster you get to the doctor, the better the chance of a fast recovery!
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