[Discourse on the social illness: leprosy in the Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada in the transition from the 17th to the 18th century (Spanish)].

The significance of leprosy in the Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada in the transition from the 17th to the 18th century is analyzed. In addition, we analyze treatments recommended by physicians in the viceroyalty, which were closely related with the etiology and pathogenesis which all doctors attributed to Saint Lazarus's disease. The diversity of opinions led to different therapeutic measures, not only with regard to alleviating the patient's symptoms, but also with a view to preventing it to spread to the rest of the population. As a guiding theme we use the theories defended by the most representative physicians in the viceroyalty, and the views of patients themselves and the society they lived in.