Efficacy of a targeted, oral penicillin-based yaws control program among children living in rural South America.
Yaws is endemic in rural Guyana. An observational study was conducted to determine the efficacy of oral penicillin V therapy in treating skin lesions of yaws in children. In 1999, inhabitants of 7 rural villages near Bartica, Guyana, were screened for skin lesions of yaws. Cases were confirmed by serological testing. A control program was implemented in 2000: children < or =14 years old were screened, and those with active lesions were treated with oral penicillin V for 7-10 days. In 2001, children were rescreened and active cases were treated. Prevalence of yaws skin lesions fell from 5.1% (52 of 1020 children screened in 2000) to 1.6% (8 of 516 in 2001), a 71% drop. Sixteen (94%) of 17 children treated in 2000 and reassessed in 2001 had complete resolution of lesions. A targeted, oral penicillin-based treatment regimen can successfully treat dermatologic yaws in individual children and can decrease the prevalence of skin yaws in a community in which it is endemic. This information may aid in the implementation of additional control efforts.
Scolnik
D
D
Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
Aronson
L
L
Lovinsky
R
R
Toledano
K
K
Glazier
R
R
Eisenstadt
J
J
Eisenberg
P
P
Wilcox
L
L
Rowsell
R
R
Silverman
M
M
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D005260:Female; D006172:Guyana / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010406:Penicillins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015001:Yaws / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology
D010406:Penicillins