What is the mortality rate for leprosy?
The statistics suggets that some 4000 people die each year as a result of living with leprosy; but it is not the disease itself, rather an aincreased risk of problems associated with the disease. For example, blindness is a widespread feature of advanced disease, and studies suggest that it increases mortality, compared to sighted people with Hansen’s, by five times. Young blind patients carried the highest relative risk. Similarly, the nerve damage, specifically affecting sensation, means that burns scalds and other injuries may not be treated appropriately, as the patient gets no pain. Even after relapse, which occurs in some patients whose treatment is stopped before complete bacterial negativity, death is not directly caused by the disease.
