Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In pathology, a chronic and almost uniformly incurable disease, caused by a well-determined bacillus, Bacillus lepræ.
  • noun One of a class of scaly skin-affections, mostly psoriasis; lepra Græcorum.
  • noun In botany, a scurfy or mealy matter on the surface of some plants.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Med.) Leprosy.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun medicine, archaic leprosy

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin. See leper.

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Examples

  • However, he described modern psoriasis under the term lepra vulgaris, which perpetuated confusion of psoriasis and leprosy.

    ReadABlog.com New Blogs and RSS Feeds 2008

  • I found in this hut a few persons who were suffering from the eruption called "lepra," a disease but too commonly met with in Iceland.

    Visit to Iceland Ida Pfeiffer 1827

  • Yet I did not see a single case of true lepra Arabum, or its modifications, the huge Barbadoes leg (elephantiasis), and the sarcoma scrotale and sarcocele of Zanzibar and East Africa.

    Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo 2003

  • If a 'lepra reaction' (fever, a rash, pain and perhaps swelling of hands and feet, or eye damage) occurs or gets worse while taking the medicine, keep taking it but get medical help.

    Chapter 21 1993

  • In case of a severe 'lepra reaction' (pain along the nerves, numbness or weakness, eye irritation, or painful testicles), it is usually best to keep taking the leprosy treatment, but to also take an anti-inflammatory medicine (cortico-steroid).

    Chapter 31 1993

  • Mexican villagers call any open spreading sore lepra.

    Chapter 9 1993

  • Note: The larger dose of clofazimine, which can also be used daily to control lepra reaction, is best given with the advice of an experienced health worker or doctor.

    Chapter 31 1993

  • Although it is less effective in killing leprosy bacteria than rifampin, it has the advantage that it also helps to control lepra reaction to some extent, particularly in persons with lepromatous leprosy

    Chapter 31 1993

  • More than 1,115 lepra-like bacilli were counted in a single fly-speck.

    Insects and Diseases A Popular Account of the Way in Which Insects may Spread or Cause some of our Common Diseases Rennie Wilbur Doane

  • The plan proved quite successful in curing obstinate lepra.

    Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure William Thomas Fernie

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