Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Oct;108(10):601-7.
doi: 10.1093/trstmh/tru128. Epub 2014 Aug 25.

Endemic treponemal diseases

Michael Marks  1 , Anthony W Solomon  2 , David C Mabey  2
Affiliations

Endemic treponemal diseases

Michael Marks et al. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2014 Oct.

Erratum in

  • Endemic treponemal diseases.
    Marks M, Solomon AW, Mabey DC. Marks M, et al. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2015 Sep;109(9):604. doi: 10.1093/trstmh/trv052. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2015. PMID: 26286945 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

Abstract

The endemic treponemal diseases, consisting of yaws, bejel (endemic syphilis) and pinta, are non-venereal infections closely related to syphilis, and are recognized by WHO as neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Despite previous worldwide eradication efforts the prevalence of yaws has rebounded in recent years and the disease is now a major public health problem in 14 countries. Adequate data on the epidemiology of bejel and pinta is lacking. Each disease is restricted to a specific ecological niche but all predominantly affect poor, rural communities. As with venereal syphilis, the clinical manifestations of the endemic treponemal diseases are variable and can be broken down in to early stage and late stage disease. Current diagnostic techniques are unable to distinguish the different causative species but newer molecular techniques are now making this possible. Penicillin has long been considered the mainstay of treatment for the endemic treponemal diseases but the recent discovery that azithromycin is effective in the treatment of yaws has renewed interest in these most neglected of the NTDs, and raised hopes that global eradication may finally be possible.

Keywords: Bejel; Neglected tropical diseases; Pinta; Syphilis; Yaws.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Countries where endemic treponemal diseases have recently been reported. This figure is available in black and white in print and in color at Transactions online.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Lesions of yaws. (A) Ulcer of primary yaws. (B) Dactylitis of secondary yaws. Figure 2A courtesy of M. Marks. Figure 2B courtesy of O Mitjà. This figure is available in black and white in print and in color at Transactions online.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Lesions of bejel. (A) Oral lesion of primary bejel. (B) Chronic skin lesion of secondary bejel. Figure reproduced from Perine et al. with permission of the publisher. This figure is available in black and white in print and in color at Transactions online.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Lesions of pinta. (A) Erythematous plaque of early pinta. (B) Hyperpigmented skin lesion of late pinta. Figure reproduced from Perine et al. with permission of the publisher. This figure is available in black and white in print and in color at Transactions online.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. WHO. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2012. Accelerating work to overcome the global impact of neglected tropical dieases - a roadmap for implementation. http://www.who.int/neglected_diseases/NTD_RoadMap_2012_Fullversion.pdf. [accessed 1 May 2013]
    1. Perine PL, Hopkins DR, Niemel PLA, et al. Geneva: World Health Organization; 1984. Handbook of endemic treponematoses : yaws, endemic syphilis and pinta. http://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/37178?locale=en. [accessed 2 May 2013]
    1. Mitjà O, Hays R, Ipai A, et al. Single-dose azithromycin versus benzathine benzylpenicillin for treatment of yaws in children in Papua New Guinea: an open-label, non-inferiority, randomised trial. Lancet. 2012;379:342–7. - PubMed
    1. WHO. Eradication of yaws - the Morges Strategy. Wkly Epidemiol Rec. 2012;87:189–94. - PubMed
    1. Antal GM, Causse G. The control of endemic treponematoses. Rev Infect Dis. 1985;7:S220–6. - PubMed

Publication types

Substances