Leprosy is not a common disease in North America, but it still occurs in other areas of the world. Leprosy (Hansen’s Disease) is a human infectious disease that can be effectively treated with long-term administration of multi-drug therapy. In 2006, over 250,000 new cases were reported to the World Health Organization. In the nineteenth century, disagreement among leprologists regarding the hereditary or infectious nature of leprosy was resolved with the identification of the etiological agent, Mycobacterium leprae. However, epidemiological studies maintain the importance of host genetics in leprosy susceptibility. The main problems caused by leprosy are physical incapacities. A study by Silva Sobrinho and coworkers evaluated the level of patients' incapacity in treatment and in discharge in 11 municipal districts of the14th Regional of Health of Paraná (Brazil), at the same time it promoted discussion and qualified nursing professionals of local teams. It was verified that 79.8% of the population evaluated presented some degree of incapacity and that some of the professionals ignored the evaluation technique. The percentage of patients with incapacity levels I and II was high, a fact that corroborates the late diagnosis of cases. The need of a permanent self-care process associated to polichemotherapy and continuous evaluation of new and old cases in order to avoid the illness physical incapacities is highlighted.

WHAT THE STUDY MAY MEAN TO READER: For the adventurous, the development and evaluation of a self-management program for leprosy may be the ticket for you do something worthwhile. It would certainly be a fascinating project.

RA Silva Sobrinho et al. Evaluation of incapacity level in leprosy: a strategy to sensitize and train the nursing team. Revista Latino-American Enfermagem, 2007;15:1125-1130.