Swiss and US researchers have identified a strain of leprosy found in armadillos in dozens of people in the southern United States, indicating the skin disease can be transmitted directly from animals to humans.

"/> Swiss and US researchers have identified a strain of leprosy found in armadillos in dozens of people in the southern United States, indicating the skin disease can be transmitted directly from animals to humans.

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HEALTH

Swiss researchers link armadillos to leprosy

Swiss and US researchers have identified a strain of leprosy found in armadillos in dozens of people in the southern United States, indicating the skin disease can be transmitted directly from animals to humans.

Published: 28 April 2011 10:38 CEST

The team of researchers, including a team from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, looked at 50 leprosy patients in the United States and 33 wild armadillos with the disease.

The findings are the first to confirm a long-suspected link between the disease in armadillos and humans, but are not a sign that a new epidemic is underway, researchers said.

Rather, the report published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that the disease, most often found in India, can originate in the United States and infect humans who hunt armadillo and butcher the meat.

“I’m sure it is not new. I am sure it has been there for really quite some period of time. It does not change the risk,” lead study author Richard Truman of Louisiana State University told AFP.

“What we are really doing right now is being able to recognize and prove it does occur.”

Leprosy, sometimes called Hansen’s disease after the Norwegian doctor who discovered it in 1873, is a bacterial infection that causes lesions on a person’s extremities.

About 249,000 new cases were reported globally in 2008, and about 150 cases arise in the United States each year.

Left untreated, it can lead to blindness and nerve damage that cripples the hands and feet, but it is usually curable with antibiotics.

“There is general perception that leprosy is not an important disease anymore,” said co-author Pushpendra Singh of the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland.

“No effective vaccine is available, and we should remember that no infectious disease has ever been eradicated without a very effective vaccine.”

In the latest findings, the researchers were able to identify a never-before-seen armadillo genotype of the bacterium, Mycobacterium leprae – a new strain named – in 28 animals and 22 people who had not gone abroad and could not have contracted the disease elsewhere.

“It became clear that leprosy patients who never traveled outside the US but lived in areas where infected armadillos are prevalent were infected with the same strain as the armadillos,” said the study.

The armadillo genotype of leprosy was found in human patients in the five Gulf Coast states – Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama.

The study data was collected from 2000 to 2007 and patients’ ages ranged from the teens to the 80s, said Truman.

Not all patients whose leprosy was traced back to armadillos admitted having contact with the animals, he said.

“We only had contact history available to us from 15 of those patients and only half of those said they had contact with armadillos and the other half indicated they had not,” he said.

Scientists have puzzled over exactly how the disease passes on ever since it was first isolated in 1873. It can have an incubation period of two to 10 years. Some research has suggested it could be transmitted by nasal secretions.

But contrary to popular myth, it is not a highly contagious disease, and about 95 percent of the human population is naturally immune.

“We think people have to have pretty close contact with the organism and that would likely be contact with blood or fresh flesh of the animal,” Truman added.

“So just touching an armadillo, you are not going to get leprosy.”   According to James Krahenbuhl, director of the National Hansen’s Disease Program in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, about 3,600 patients in the United States are living with leprosy.

About 70 percent of those people have lived or worked in countries where the infection is prevalent. The rest acquire it in the United States.

“These findings will increase the awareness of physicians in this part of the country, in the south, in the Gulf Coast area, that leprosy does indeed exist,” said Krahenbuhl.

“They should consider the diagnosis if they have a patient in their office with a suspicious skin lesion.”

According to the World Health Organization, most countries where leprosy was once endemic have been able to reduce the rate of infection to fewer than one person per 10,000.

However, the disease remains an affliction, mainly of the poor, in parts of Brazil, India, Nepal and several countries in Africa.

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HEALTH

How you can save money on healthcare in Switzerland

Between insurance premiums and over-priced drugs and other costs, healthcare in Switzerland comes at a steep price. Clare O'Dea looks at why the costs are so high and some of the ways you can save money.

Published: 18 December 2023 10:40 CET
How you can save money on healthcare in Switzerland

On the surface, the Swiss healthcare provision model looks egalitarian. All residents are obliged by law to purchase the same basic package of insurance, and the premiums are subsidised for those on low incomes. So why is cost such a bone of contention?

The problem is that the healthcare itself is very expensive, the second most expensive system in the world after the United States. And most of the cost is shouldered by households one way or another. This hurts those on low to middle incomes the most.

Between health insurance premiums, out-of-pocket expenses and over-priced drugs, households are spending a significant chunk of their income on health. Amazingly, Swiss residents fund 59 per cent of the national expenditure on health, according to the Federal Office for Public Health figures for 2020. The rest comes from state coffers, and, to a small extent, from employers.

To bring it down to an individual level, Swiss residents shell out 478 francs per person per month on health costs. Compulsory health insurance premiums account for 252 francs of that total on average. The rest goes on supplementary (top-up) health insurance premiums (42 francs), co-payment on policies plus out-of-pocket expenses (174 francs) and ‘other funding’ (10).

Politicians across the spectrum seem to be incapable of doing anything to curb health inflation. The latest is that health insurance premiums are set to increase by 8.7 per cent in 2024. That’s not a projection but a fact, as announced by the health minister in September.

KEY POINTS: What you need to know about Switzerland’s health insurance price hikes

Public purse

The worst thing would be to miss out on your entitlements. To find out if you qualify for premium subsidies, you’ll have to go through your home canton. Each canton has its own reduction rates and rules on eligibility. In some, there are systems in place to identify and notify eligible people but in others, you have to check and apply yourself.

This possibility is definitely worth looking into if you think you might be eligible – around a quarter of the population qualify for these payments. In some cantons, the proportion of recipients is higher. Moneyland.ch has put together a list of the contact information for premium reductions in each canton.

Take the initiative

Generally speaking, to save money on healthcare costs, the insured have to take the initiative themselves. New arrivals to Switzerland are required to take out a policy within three months, and should definitely shop around. Pricing comparison websites such as moneyland.ch , comparis.ch and Priminfo (in the national languages only) help to cut through the noise and find the best deal for your individual circumstances.

Age and location are important criteria. There are infinite tiny pricing variations between the 40+ non-profit insurers (known as “Krankenkasse”, “caisse maladie” or “cassa malati”), which means you may even find a better deal by buying policies from different insurers for different members of the family.

For those who already have a policy, it makes sense to do an annual price check up when the following year’s rates are announced in the autumn. Chopping and changing, which everyone has a right to do once a year, can really pay off.

The window for changing providers has just closed but you can be ready to notify your current provider by November 30th next year. Handily, the comparison websites also provide template letters for cancelling a policy.

READ ALSO: Which Swiss health insurance providers have the lowest rates in 2024?

Different models

Even if you decide to stay with the same insurer, you can obviously change the type of policy to a cheaper version. The so-called standard model is the most expensive. Under this arrangement, you decide which doctor you’d like to see, including specialists, and make appointments when you feel the need. 

There are other cheaper managed care models which are designed to cut down on unnecessary visits to the doctor. With these, you have to have a telemedicine consultation or visit a pharmacy before you get the green light to make an appointment with a doctor. There is another model where you have to see your general practitioner to get a referral to a specialist.

Calculations

The best way to save overall is to get clever with your deductible. That’s the share of medical expenses that you have to pay from your own pocket in the space of the year before your insurer starts reimbursing. The lower the deductible, the higher the premium.

Making the right choice involves a certain risk. But it is at least possible to make an educated guess based on past experience. There are several bands between 300 and 2,500 francs per year for deductibles (the amounts are lower for children).

If you tend not to need medical care and think your health costs are likely to be low in the coming year, it would make sense to go for the maximum deductible, which can translate into a saving up around 40 per cent on premiums. If you have reason to believe your bills will add up to 2,000 francs or more, then you’re better off going for the minimum deductible.

Don’t double up

That’s all speaking about the mandatory insurance package, which includes illness, accident and maternity care. But make sure you really need that accident insurance. Anyone who is employed for more than 8 hours per week is covered by their employer’s accident insurance, in which case it should be removed from their personal policy.

If you are looking to save money on health insurance, chances are you won’t be looking for additional insurance, also known as supplementary insurance. These policies give you more freedom over choice of hospital, and also cover therapies and treatments that are not included in the basic mandatory package. You can have both policies from the same provider or mix and match.

Though it can be irritating to hear this, especially if you already have a health condition, there is one final way that you can save on health costs – don’t get sick. What this advice really means is to lead a healthy lifestyle by taking exercise, eating a balanced diet, not consuming too much alcohol and cutting out smoking. Those are things we have control over, unlike genetics and luck.

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