Leprosy Is Now Called Hansen's Disease
A leper is a person with leprosy. The word carries such stigma that medicine has largely replaced it with the disease's modern name.
A leper is a person with leprosy, and figuratively someone shunned by others. Medical writing now avoids the word entirely: the World Health Organization recommends *person affected by leprosy*, and the disease is often called *Hansen's disease* after the Norwegian doctor who identified its bacterium in 1873. The change is deliberate, because the old word carried centuries of exclusion. The disease is curable with antibiotics and only mildly contagious.
- A person with leprosy. *A leper colony.*
- A social outcast. *A political leper.*
- Hansen's disease — the modern name. *Hansen's disease.*
- Leprosy — the condition. *Treating leprosy.*
- Greek — *lepros*, scaly. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | leper | A leper. |
| Plural | lepers | Lepers. |
| Disease | leprosy | Leprosy. |
| Modern name | Hansen's disease | Hansen's disease. |
| Greek | lepros | Scaly. |
- Medical writing avoids the word leper.Usage.
- Leprosy is curable with antibiotics.Treatment.
- He was treated as a political leper.Figurative.
What is actually true of leprosy
- Caused by a slow-growing bacterium, identified by Hansen in 1873
- Only mildly contagious — most people are naturally immune
- Curable with multi-drug therapy since the 1980s
- Damage comes from nerve loss, not from parts falling off
- Still present in over a hundred countries, with new cases each year
Late Latin *lepra*, from Greek *lepros*, scaly, from *lepis*, a scale. The form *leper* originally named the disease, not the person.
Why is leprosy called Hansen's disease?
After Gerhard Armauer Hansen, who identified the bacterium in 1873. The name avoids the stigma attached to the older word.
Do fingers fall off from leprosy?
No. Nerve damage causes loss of sensation, so injuries go unnoticed and untreated, leading to damage over time.