TY - JOUR KW - Africa KW - BCG Vaccine KW - Climate KW - Europe KW - History, 15th Century KW - History, 16th Century KW - History, 17th Century KW - History, 18th Century KW - History, 19th Century KW - History, 20th Century KW - History, Ancient KW - History, Medieval KW - Humans KW - Kenya KW - leprosy KW - Models, Theoretical KW - Rural Health KW - Tuberculosis KW - Urbanization AU - Hunter J M AU - Thomas M O AB -

Leprosy today is a problem of global magnitude affecting possibly up to 15 million people. Its rise and fall in medieval Europe is an historically fascinating enigma. Partial cross-immunization by epidemic tuberculosis, reinforced by the growth of cities, has been proposed as a mechanism in leprosy's European disappearance, but evidence is lacking. In the case of Africa in recent decades, analysis of leprosy and tuberculosis rates, and of levels of urbanization, albeit with imperfect data, suggests a possible environmental health for leprosy, the existence of some cross-interference between tuberculosis and the milder, paucibacillary form of leprosy, and a negative correlation between leprosy and urbanization. It is argued that the rise of the city in Africa, acting through a combination of influences, including tuberculosis, is leading to a decline of leprosy.

BT - Social science & medicine (1982) C1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6382622?dopt=Abstract DA - 1984 DO - 10.1016/0277-9536(84)90134-5 IS - 1 J2 - Soc Sci Med LA - eng N2 -

Leprosy today is a problem of global magnitude affecting possibly up to 15 million people. Its rise and fall in medieval Europe is an historically fascinating enigma. Partial cross-immunization by epidemic tuberculosis, reinforced by the growth of cities, has been proposed as a mechanism in leprosy's European disappearance, but evidence is lacking. In the case of Africa in recent decades, analysis of leprosy and tuberculosis rates, and of levels of urbanization, albeit with imperfect data, suggests a possible environmental health for leprosy, the existence of some cross-interference between tuberculosis and the milder, paucibacillary form of leprosy, and a negative correlation between leprosy and urbanization. It is argued that the rise of the city in Africa, acting through a combination of influences, including tuberculosis, is leading to a decline of leprosy.

PY - 1984 SP - 27 EP - 57 T2 - Social science & medicine (1982) TI - Hypothesis of leprosy, tuberculosis and urbanization in Africa. VL - 19 SN - 0277-9536 ER -