Burnt out burn on
We see quite a bit a new Hansen’s Disease (Leprosy) at the hospital where we are. Three to four new cases a day, for a disease supposedly “eliminated” in India and across the world! We see new pauci-bacillary, many multi bacillary, and very many with severe reactions. We come across many partially treated, some possibly resistant ones too! For an old disease we hardly have any new answers. The same old treatment since a few decades. Well the purpose of this blog was not to complain about the “neglected tropical disease” but to make another point! But I couldn’t control my habit of being a complainer when it comes to diseases of poverty! The most difficult decision which I find in treating leprosy is to decide, if the patient still needs treatment or is it a burnt-out case. People come after having taken treatment for a few months, with no bacteria detected in the smear, or broken bacteria seen – are we dealing with a partially treated case or a fully treated “burnt out” case.