Handbook of endemic treponematodes: yaws, endemic syphilis, and pinta

Overview

In spite of a considerable decrease in the prevalence of yaws, endemic syphilis, and pita as a result of WHO/UNICEF-sponsored national control campaigns during the 1950s and 1960s, these diseases are still endemic in many parts of the world. They are usually found in remote, rural populations that have little or no access to health care and among whom the large-scale treatment activities that are needed are the most difficult to apply. In addition, constant surveillance and active case-finding and case-reporting are essential to the success of control work; these are activities that may be performed by locally-based community health workers, with support and guidance from health services at the district and national levels.

This handbook is intended to be a reference source for health care workers and public health personnel throughout the tropical and subtropical world whose duties include the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of yaws, endemic syphilis (bejel), and pinta. It is not a comprehensive essay on the biology of the treponemes and does not discuss the pathology of these diseases in detail. It describes briefly the clinical manifestation of each disease, supplementing each description with colour photographs of characteristic lesions. The treatment of the endemic treponematoses is described, with emphasis on the epidemiological methods used to control these diseases. This information should enable health workers to make a correct diagnosis, give the proper treatment, and control (or even eliminate) treponematoses in population they serve.