Yaws in the Philippines: A clinico-seroprevalence study of selected communities in Mindanao.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Yaws is a chronic, highly contagious skin and bone infection affecting children living in impoverished, remote communities. It is caused by Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue. We report the prevalence of active yaws among elementary schoolchildren based on clinical and serological criteria in selected municipalities of Southern Philippines.

Methods

From January to March 2017, exploratory cross-sectional surveys and screening of skin diseases were conducted in the Liguasan Marsh area of the provinces Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, and Cotabato. We included 9 municipalities and randomly selected one public elementary school per municipality. Members of students' households and the communities were also examined and treated. Yaws suspects and contacts had blood tests f

SUBMITTER: Dofitas BL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9159601 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature