218 chapter 26
Types of leprosy
Depending on how much natural resistance a person has, leprosy appears in 2 different
forms. You can count the number of skin patches to find out to find out the type of leprosy
a person has—people with Pauci-Bacillary (PB) have up to 5 skin patches, while people with
Multi-Bacillary (MB) leprosy have more than 5 skin patches.
PAUCI-BACILLARY (PB)
• in persons with relatively high
resistance
• no bacilli in skin smear
• Person cannot pass leprosy on to
others.
• Person may have up to 5 skin
patches, variable in appearance,
but often have raised margins and
flat centers.
• Feeling is
reduced or absent
in centers of the
skin patches.
MULTI-BACILLARY (MB)
• in persons with low resistance
• bacilli—few to many in skin
smears
• Person can pass leprosy to
others (until treated).
• more than 5 skin
patches, raised or
flat with irregular
edges, and usually
some loss of feeling;
patches about the
same on both sides
of the body
• The skin of the face
may become thick, lumpy,
reddish, especially over the
eyebrows, cheeks, nose and
ears.
• Skin on the face is
not thickened.
• Nerve damage appears early,
but usually only involves loss of
feeling in skin patches. Usually it
does not affect the eyes, hands,
or feet. When it does, it often
happens early and causes loss
of feeling or strength in only one
hand or foot.
loss of
eyebrows
ear lobe
thick and
lumpy
nostrils
sometimes
deformed
THE ‘LION FACE’ OF
LEPROMATOUS LEPROSY
• Severe nerve damage often
results, with loss of feeling and
loss of strength in both hands
and feet, with deformities.
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