Everything about Yaws totally explained
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Yaws (also
Pétasse tropica,
thymosis,
polypapilloma tropicum or
pian) is a tropical
infection of the
skin,
bones and joints caused by the
spirochete bacterium Treponema pertenue. Other treponematosis diseases are
bejel (
Treponema endemicum),
pinta (
Treponema carateum),
syphilis (
Treponema pallidum), and
Lyme Disease (
Borrelia burgdorferi)
Epidemiology
The disease is transmitted by skin contact with infected individuals or
eye gnats, the spirochete entering through an existing cut or similar damage. Within ninety days (but usually less than a month) of infection a painless but distinctive 'mother yaw'
ulcer appears. These tracts heal with
keloid formation which can cause deformities, disabilities and limb contractures. The bone lesions caused are
periostitis,
osteitis, and
osteomyelitis, damage to the
tibia can lead to a condition known as sabre shins. In a very few cases a condition known as
goundou is caused where growths on the nasal maxillae can result in extensive and severe damage to the nose and palate.
The largest group afflicted by yaws are
children aged 6 to 10 years in tropical areas of the
Americas,
Africa,
Asia or
Oceania. There were
World Health Organization funded campaigns against yaws from
1954 to
1963 which greatly reduced the incidence of the disease, although more recently numbers have risen again.
The disease is identified from blood tests or by a lesion sample through a darkfield examination under a microscope. Treatment is by a single dose of
penicillin,
erythromycin or
tetracycline, recurrence or relapse is uncommon.
Examination of ancient remains has led to the suggestion that yaws has affected
hominids for the last 1.5 million years. The current name is believed to be of
Carib origin, "yaya" meaning sore; frambesia is a
Modern Latin word inspired by the
French word
framboise ("raspberry").
Occurrence
Yaws was nearly eradicated by a worldwide treatment program in the 1950s, which reduced the number of sufferers of yaws from an estimated 50 million to nearly zero. However, the
World Health Organization reported in January 2007 that yaws is on the rise again, with roughly a half a million sufferers, mostly in poor, rural areas.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Yaws'.
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