Abstract
Hanseniasis has been considered a disabilitating disease. For some authors, this would be the root of the fear caused by the disease. The authors disagree with these concepts and dissociate the deformities attributable to the disease from incapacity to work. Sixty-two different types of deformity, primarily or secondarily related to hanseniasis. were investigated in 727 patients interned in a Hospital of Sanitary Dermatology (Sto. Angelo, S. Paulo, Brazil). Handicaps and disabilities were associated with secondary deformities, which could have been easily prevented if diagnoses had been made earlier. A program of basic, elementary attention to prevent deformities, associated with diagnosis and treatment, is considered.
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