Mycobacterium leprae essays

Mycobacterium leprae essays Mycobacterium leprae is a chemoorganoheterotroph microbe that causes the disfiguring disease called leprosy. Leprosy is also known as Hansens disease because it was first discovered by Dr. Armauer Hansen is 1873. Leprosy has been around since biblical times but there was no treatment available until the 1940s. Mycobacterium leprae has never been grown in artificial cultures but can be grown in the footpads of mice and armadillos. Mycobacterium leprae closely resembles the size and shape of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Mycobacterium leprae is acid-fast, gram-positive, and rod shaped. It also has a thick, waxy coating. Leprosy has a gradual onset which can take years due to the long incubation period which can be as long as three to five years. This disease is transmitted through the skin or the mucus lining of the nose and throat. Children are more susceptible than adults to contracting the disease. Some of the symptoms of leprosy are one or more skin lesions with decreased sensation, lesions that have not healed after several weeks to months, numbness in extremities, and muscle atrophy. There are two common forms of leprosy, tuberculoid and lepromatous. Tuberculoid leprosy causes the loss of sensation of the skin and atrophy of the muscles. This is the mildest form of leprosy and there is nerve damage but it is non-progressive. The more severe form of leprosy is lepromatous leprosy which is also the progressive form of this disease. Less nerve damage is associated with this form but facial features, fingers, and toes disintegrate. People with long-term leprosy may lose the use of their hands or feet because the absence of sensation can cause injuries to go unnoticed. Inadequate care causes infection of open wounds. Gangrene may also follow, causing body tissue to die and become deformed. The person infected could also experience blindness if the disease continues to advance. ...