Yaws (Treponema Pallidum) is a chronic bacterial infection that mainly affects the skin, bones, and joints. It belongs to the kingdom Eubacteria, the phylum Spirochaetes, the class Spirochaetes, the order Spirochaetales, the family Spirochaetaceae, the genus Treponema, the species Pallidum, and the subspecies Pertenue. It is closely related to the bacterium that causes syphilis. About two through four weeks after being infected with yaws, the person develops what is called “Mother Yaw” where bacteria entered the skin.
The sore is a growth that may be tan or reddish and looks like a raspberry. It is usually painless but does cause itching. These sores may last for months. More sores may appear shortly before or after the mother yaw heals as the person scratches or spreads the bacteria from the mother yaw to uninfected skin. Eventually the skin sores heal. In the advanced stage, sores on the skin and bones can lead to severe disfigurement and disability. This occurs in up to 1 in 5 people who do not get antibiotic treatment. Yaws begins when T.
Pertenue penetrates the skin at a site where there is open skin. In most cases, T. Pertenue is transmitted from person to person. At the entrance site, a painless bump lesion, or bump, arises within two to four weeks and grows. The initial lesion is referred to as the mother yaw. The lymph nodes in the area of the mother yaw are often swollen. When the mother yaw heals, a light-colored scar remains. Yaws can be found in rural, warm, tropical areas, such as South East Asia, Latin America, West Africa, India, and the Caribbean Islands.
The damage done after yaws usually isn’t fatal. It can cause deformities of the legs and nose. Someone infected with yaws if not treated can develop symptoms later in their life. This is known as late yaws. Late yaws usually appears after five years of the initial infection and is characterized by disfigurement of the nose and bones, and palmar/plantar hyperkeratosis (thickening of the palms of the hand and the soles of the feet). These complications on the soles of the feet make it difficult for patients to walk.
More than 50 million cases of yaws have been treated with penicillin in 46 countries. 75% of the infected are children under the age of 15. There is no vaccine for yaws, but one dose of penicillin, or most antibiotics, usually kills the bacteria fairly quickly. In later stages of the disease doses of penicillin are given through a three week time span. The disease returning after being cured is very rare. Skin lesions take months to heal. In late stages of yaws damage to skin, bones, or joints can be irreversible. Citations Yaws – What is it?
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