The “disease of the past” that reappeared in Romania. Valeriu Gheorghiță: “It is not a threat, but it must be recognized in time”
Doctor Valeriu Gheorghiță points out that leprosy does not represent a public health threat, but it must be recognized in time. Recently, the Cluj Public Health Directorate confirmed two cases of Hansen's disease in people employed in a SPA salon in Cluj-Napoca, and two other cases are under evaluation.
Doctor Vlad Gheorghiță PHOTO: FB
The Cluj Public Health Directorate recently confirmed two cases of leprosy (Hansen's disease) in people employed in a SPA salon in Cluj-Napoca, and two other cases are being evaluated. All four patients are women, originally from Asia, and the first two, aged 21 and 25, presented themselves at the Cluj County Emergency Clinical Hospital on November 26, 2025.
Col. Dr. Valeriu Gheorghiță, medical coordinator of the national health campaigns, explained that “leprosy is a rare disease but may re-emerge as imported cases due to population mobility and migration“.
“Leprosy is caused by Mycobacterium leprae, an acid-alcohol-fast bacillus of extremely slow multiplication, impossible to culture in vitro. It has a tropism for skin and peripheral nerves, especially Schwann cells”Dr. Valeriu Gheorghiță transmitted.
The doctor emphasized that the disease is treatable and curable, and the real challenge is not in the epidemiological risk, but in early recognition and combating stigma.
“For a long time, leprosy remained in the textbooks as a disease. But population mobility, migration and globalization remind us that rare diseases can reappear as imported cases – and our role as doctors is to recognize them in time”explained doctor Valeriu Gheorghiță.
According to the specialist, signs that should attract attention include hypopigmented or erythematous skin lesions with loss of sensitivity, thickening of peripheral nerves and progressive motor or sensory disturbances.
Transmission of the disease is limited, requiring close and prolonged contact, and patients quickly become non-contagious after initiation of treatment.
Peripheral neuropathy is the core of the disease, and disability occurs because of late diagnosis and chronic inflammation, not the aggressiveness of the bacteria.
Romania has not reported domestic cases for decades, and the last patients treated are found in the Tichilești sanatorium.
“Leprosy is treatable and curable. The real challenge is not epidemiological risk, but early recognition and combating stigma. Leprosy remains a rare but relevant differential diagnosis—not a public health threat,” a Dr. Gheorghiță concluded.
