Yaws in one of the 17 diseases classified as neglected by the World Health Organization (WHO). A research group appears to have found a definitive treatment for this chronic skin, bone and joint infection typical of the tropics.
This disease is very common in children under the age of fifteen, and is currently re-sprouting strongly in rural areas of Asia, Africa and America, where it affects more than 500,000 people. Now, a group of scientists from Spain and New Guinea are proposing a new treatment for the disease that could open the doors to its total eradication. It consists of the administration of a single azithromycin tablet. This antibiotic is also used to treat syphilis, which, like yaws, is caused by a bacterium of the genus Treponema .
Compared to the current treatment, consisting of the injection of penicillin, azithromycin has the advantage of being administered orally, so that no syringe or medical equipment is needed for its distribution. The researchers, who publish the results of their trial in the scientific journal The Lancet , found a 96 percent cure rate in patients who tried a new treatment, with no intolerances or significant side effects.
