Leprosy tertiary prevention
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: João André Alves Silva, M.D. [2]
Overview
Tertiary Prevention
Once an individual is infected with leprosy and symptoms start to develop, the longer the period taken to establish a correct diagnosis and until treatment is started, greater the chance of developing lifelong damage. It is important to emphasize this time frame because, even after the diagnosis has been reached and adequate therapy has been started, significant nerve damage will continue to develop, particularly in multibacillary cases. This damage will then decline throughout the following 3 years. Education of the population to prevent further damage, monitor and provide basic treatment should be emphasized. Once the damage has been established, it is important to minimize its impact on the lives of the populations. For this, important measures may be applied, including:
- Home self-care - the activities that individuals may perform at their homes, individually or with assistance of family members, such as wound dressing of the hands or feet, thereby minimizing further damage.
- Interventions and education at the local clinic.
- Direct education of patients.
- Specialist intervention, such as:
- Assist patients with acute eye problems.
- Debridement of infected areas.
- Surgery in certain cases.