Auntie Charo's Soapbox

A long, long time ago in the village of Tamuning, probably by where that big and lonely building stands behind Ben Franklin, or maybe even in Tumon where the buildings are taller, lived many, many natives with leprosy. They were loaded onto a ship and sent to the Philippines.
Gosh, there were stories that perhaps the 'gupalaos' were the ones that were the ones infected with the disease, others said it was a combination of Chamorros and 'gupalaos'(those from the Micronesian islands-although there was no such thing as Micronesia in those days!)
KUAM's report on their webpage about the possibility that one could get leprosy, is quite interesting in that it reports that people, families who sleep together or have close contact are likely to catch the disease. " According to Dr. George Macris with the Harmon Doctors' Clinic, leprosy comes in two forms, confirming that the student supposedly has tuberculosis leprosy, the more common and mild version of the two. Even though the student had been attending school, Macris says other students are likely not at risk of catching the disease, saying, "Again, leprosy is not a disease that spreads very easily. Very close contact is necessary. Years ago people caught leprosy in families that slept together with very close personal contact. It's not one of these diseases that for example like influenza that you can catch it from merely not washing hands or a cough in the face."
How many of us are aware of people from the neighboring islands who rent or live in homes that are built to house four people but actually house eighteen or more? I know of a family who live in a house with no running water and no electricity.....and this house is in the middle of Mangilao. After this article, I'm quite surprised that there aren't more leprosy cases and certainly won't be surprised if it comes back unless the people at Public Health does something about it.
I wonder if KUAM will do research on the person who has the disease and report the nationality of the person with the disease.....inquiring minds want to know!