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FEATURE-Cured lepers still live in "colonies" in China

02 Oct 2006 18:00:55 GMT
Source: Reuters

PANYU, China, Oct 2 (Reuters) - The old men hunched over a board game looked like any other pensioners playing chess, until they lifted their heads to welcome medical staff approaching their table.

Scarred by leprosy, some of the men have collapsed noses and others have missing fingers, easily visible as they held up their hands to greet their doctors.

All of the inhabitants at the Panyu leprosy village in southern China have recovered from the potentially debilitating skin disease and are no longer infectious.

But many are badly disfigured and blind and are utterly incapable of rebuilding their lives after being forcibly institutionalised for decades, far away from their families.

Panyu is one of hundreds of "leprosy villages" in China, a legacy from the 1950s when very little was known about leprosy, or Hansen's disease.

Mistaken as a very infectious or even incurable disease, those diagnosed with leprosy were exiled to remote villages and forgotten.

Ou Feng was diagnosed with leprosy at the age of 18 and sent to live on Panyu, a tiny island in southern Guangdong province.

Now 78, she is excited to greet visitors, grasping their extended hands and holding them for a long time.

"We have lunch ready for you. Please eat now, we are so happy when you come," said Ou.

Until recently leprosy sufferers were shunned due to an incorrect belief their illness was highly infectious. Lepers were turned into outcasts and often sequestered in "leper colonies".

LEPROSY FEARED BUT EASILY CURED

But since the introduction of a hugely successful multi-drug therapy to treat leprosy in 1982, it is now considered no more than a skin disease that can be cured after a six- to 12-month course of antibiotics.

Some 95 percent of the world's population is naturally immune to the bacterium that causes leprosy -- mycobacterium leprae -- which is passed between people through respiratory droplets.

It multiplies very slowly and, in one recorded case, symptoms did not show until 30 years later.

The bacterium attacks the skin, peripheral nerves and mucous membranes, causing noses of victims to collapse.

Peripheral nerves of people afflicted with the disease die, meaning sufferers cannot feel pain so cuts on fingers and toes often go unnoticed until they develop into gaping ulcers.

These huge, open sores literally overrun the digits, which slowly shrink and disappear. The wounds sometimes become so malignant that limbs have to be amputated.

This is what happened to Yuan Xingtai, a 79-year-old man who had both legs amputated three years ago and is being fitted for artificial limbs by a charity called Handa, which makes prosthetics for leprosy sufferers.

Yuan was forced to leave his wife and children to move to the leprosy village on Panyu in 1960.

"Hmmm, yes, it feels a lot more comfortable," Yuan said after testing out an artificial limb supplied by Handa. He gave a broad smile before limping away, aided by a crutch that he held with a partially withered hand.

LOW SELF-ESTEEM

Doctors and nurses say it is common for former lepers to ignore their sores and ulcers and go unwashed for weeks.

That is understandable considering the severe disabilities that these old people have to live with.

Most have stumps for hands and have had one or both legs amputated. Coupled with diseases of old age and general weakness, some have trouble even standing or putting on shoes.

Because of damage to nerves around the eyes, many develop what is known as "hare's eyes", a condition that leaves them unable to blink or shut their eyes, expsoing them to constant infection. Some eventually go blind.

"Many of them have very low self-esteem, they wouldn't even want you to sit on a chair that they have sat on," said Michael Chen, a dermatologist with Handa.

"They're afraid they will bring you bad luck," he added.

Leprosy is officially eradicated at the national level in China, which has an aggressive programme to prevent and eradicate the disease. Multi-therapy drugs are provided free.

However, pockets of infection remain in very poor regions, and there are still some 3,200 active cases in the country.

Due to ignorance and fear of stigma, many sufferers do not seek medical help until the disease is far advanced.

Since the 1980s, people newly afflicted with leprosy are no longer exiled to remote villages in China. But these villages remain and are home to some 200,000 recovered lepers.

Ou, who has outlived her two siblings, has no intention of leaving Panyu, her home for the past 60 years.

There are 35 inhabitants on Panyu and they are all housed in a two-level building. Ou shares a room with two other women.

Those who can work tend to banana trees on the island, which provides them with some pocket money during harvest time.

"My brother and sister have died, I can't find work outside, and I don't want to burden their children," she said.

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Last updated:Mon Oct 2 18:07:29 2006