How does the disease manifest itself?
In simple words, there are two main forms of leprosy: an uninfectious form and an infectious form. In the uninfectious form, the patients suffer primarily from skin damages and affliction of the nerves. Thus, crippling of the hand, the leg or certain nerves of the eyes can occur. The disintegration of the eye nerves can lead to blindness. In the infectious form of leprosy, the virus multiplies very fast. The leprosy patients are infectious for long before they even notice that they are afflicted by the disease. Once it breaks out, the disease leads to the formation of boils and lumps on the skin, and nerve damages occur. The ulcers and deformities, which one often sees in leprosy patients, are seldom caused directly by the disease, rather, they are caused by nerve disintegration and the loss of sensation caused by it. A leprosy patient, who, for instance, does not have any feeling in his hands, sustains injuries or burns on his hands easily.
