Page 11 - Disease Program News Today

Health care professionals are being advised to consider leprosy as a possible diagnosis for patients who have visited Central Florida.

Cases of leprosy have recently spiked in the southern U.S., and the CDC has released warnings for people traveling to Florida.

Hawaii still records new cases of Hansen’s disease every year, but the numbers have remained steady, according to health officials.

(CNN) — When a 54-year-old landscaper came into an Orlando dermatology clinic with a splotchy, painful rash, Dr. Rajiv Nathoo took five or six biopsies. The<a class="excerpt-read-more" href="https://wsvn.com/news/local/florida/central-florida-is-a-hot-spot-for-leprosy-report-says/">Read More</a>

Rising evidence is pointing to the possibility that leprosy has become endemic in the southeastern U.S. with central Florida a hotspot.

There is growing evidence to suggest that Hansen’s disease, often called leprosy, may be endemic in the US state of Florida and clinicians should be alert to this, a letter in CDC’s Emerging Infectious Diseases has said.1 Writing in the journal, clinicians outlined a recent case of a 54 year old man from Florida, who presented with a painful and progressive rash and was diagnosed with leprosy. They said contact tracing by the National Hansen’s Disease Program showed no associated risk fact...

Cases of leprosy are increasing in Florida. Dermatologist Andrea Maderal puts that information into reassuring context.

More exposure to ticks means more bites and, in turn, more disease. Already some illnesses, like Lyme disease, are on the rise in places where the parasites are more common.

A Penn Medicine and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) team will seek to develop treatments for three rare, incurable genetic diseases with the help of a $26 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

According to a research letter published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, Central Florida reported among the highest rates of leprosy in the United States. The region accounted for 81% of cases in Florida and nearly 1 out of 5 leprosy cases nationwide.