Yaws

Yaws

Yaws is a chronic infection that affects mainly the skin, bone and cartilage. The causative organism is a bacterium called Treponema pertenue, a subspecies of Treponema pallidum that causes venereal syphilis. However, yaws is a non-venereal infection.

The disease occurs mainly in poor communities in warm, humid tropical areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Almost 75% of people affected are children under 15 years, although peak incidence occurs in children between the ages 6-10.

Endemic treponematoses are a group of chronic bacterial infections caused by treponemes, which include yaws (also known as framboesia, pian), endemic syphilis (bejel) and pinta. All these infections often present as skin lesions and the most common of these is yaws.

• Fact sheet

Symptoms

Yaws is transmitted primarily through skin contact with an infected person. A single skin lesion develops at the point of entry of the bacterium after 2-4 weeks. If left untreated, multiple lesions appear all over the body. Although rarely fatal, yaws can lead to chronic disfigurement and disability. Overcrowding, poor personal hygiene and poor sanitation facilitate the spread of the disease.

Treatment

The 11 January 2012 edition of "The Lancet" published findings that a single dose of oral azithromycin is as effective as a single injection of benzathine penicillin. This new finding overcomes the operational difficulties associated with administering an injection and paves the way to tackle yaws through the mass treatment of entire populations at risk.

Elimination to eradication

Experts believe that yaws can easily be controlled and possibly eradicated as the disease occurs only in humans. Past experience has showed that elimination is possible in many countries. More recently, India eliminated yaws with no new cases since 2004. The NTD roadmap Accelerating work to overcome the global impact of neglected tropical diseases – A roadmap for implementation. Executive summary has targeted yaws for eradication by 2020. If successful, it will become the first disease to be eradicated through the use of antibiotics