They are rare, but every year, cases of patients with the disease come from countries where the disease is endemic such as Brazil, Bangladesh, India or Nepal come to the consultation for Hans Capuchos disease in Lisbon.

Although they no longer exist in Portugal, some cases of immigrants will appear in this consultation at the Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Central (CHULC), the only one in Lisbon and the south of the country.

“Its long date from the 20th century has been many worldwide, so it is largely a number”, stated dermatologist Cândida Fernandes. (leprosy), which is marked this year on January 30th.

According to the person responsible for the consultation, we are “one, two, three, four new cases maximum per year” of people born abroad, noting that there have been no new cases of Portuguese patients for more than five years.

“In general terms, we should follow between 30 and 40 patients per year, and the most of them have already undergone treatment and are only under surveillance”, he added.

The new patients followed in this consultation are mainly from the Brazil, Bangladesh, India, Nepalbut we also have patients from expressive African countries.

begin to have in Portugal, some manifestations of the disease. Others already arrive with the completion for the treatment in the country made to live.

“More illnesses are illnesses that occur as complications of, like illnesses and problems, symptoms of illnesses,” he said.

The doctor stressed that most patients can be treated without having very marked sequels“while maintaining the functionality, its employment and the ability to use the hands and feet without major sequelae”.

Most of the companions at the consultation are between 30 and 40 years old, but there were cases in which the disease appeared in adolescence. “That was very traumatic and conditioned the development of these kids a lot and left important sequelae”, he lamented.

There are patients who have been followed up in the hospital for more than 20 years.but, he explained: “It’s more because it originated with the disease and with the reception that the disease comes back and then the stigma on us, deep down, to make sure that what has arisen is not a relapse of Hansen’s disease.”

“These are very dramatic situations, especially in people who have had a disease and who still remember it,” he said, adding that patients never say they have it as they are remembered.

“Stigma is very marked and we even teach some strategies to protect a little bit because it is a disease that still has a reminiscence of a stigma that has not passed and as little is said it still gets a little worse”, he said.

As the disease affects the peripheral nerves, that pain sensitivity, what happens is that the You don’t feel the pain, they do and that causes trauma, solutions.

With the onset of the disease, if left untreated, leg problems can arise and even lose finger endings.