Transmission And Causes Of Leprosy

Contact With Infected Persons

The main reason leper colonies existed was because individuals were terrified if they so much as touched someone with leprosy they, too, would be afflicted. However, scientists now know this is not the case at all. In fact, it takes prolonged contact with an infected person to contract the disease. Even then, the individual with leprosy can only transmit it if they are not undergoing treatment. Despite the stigma, there is no reason to fear shaking the hands of a leprosy patient. The same is true of more intimate things, like hugging and kissing, as leprosy is not considered a sexually transmitted disease. Mothers with leprosy do not even need to worry about it affecting their unborn baby.

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