Community-based mass treatment with azithromycin for the elimination of yaws in Ghana-Results of a pilot study.

Introduction: The WHO yaws eradication strategy consists of one round of total community treatment (TCT) of single-dose azithromycin with coverage of > 90%.The efficacy of the strategy to reduce the levels on infection has been demonstrated previously in isolated island communities in the Pacific region. We aimed to determine the efficacy of a single round of TCT with azithromycin to achieve a decrease in yaws prevalence in communities that are endemic for yaws and surrounded by other yaws-endemic areas.

A Single Dose Oral Azithromycin versus Intramuscular Benzathine Penicillin for the Treatment of Yaws-A Randomized Non Inferiority Trial in Ghana.

Background: Yaws is a treponemal infection that was almost eradicated fifty years ago; however, the disease has re-emerged in a number of countries including Ghana. A single-dose of intramuscular benzathine penicillin has been the mainstay of treatment for yaws. However, intramuscular injections are painful and pose safety and logistical constraints in the poor areas where yaws occurs.

Global epidemiology of yaws: a systematic review.

Background: To achieve yaws eradication, the use of the new WHO strategy of initial mass treatment with azithromycin and surveillance twice a year needs to be extended everywhere the disease occurs. However, the geographic scope of the disease is unknown. We aimed to synthesise published and unpublished work to update the reported number of people with yaws at national and subnational levels and to estimate at-risk populations.

A cross-sectional study of 'yaws' in districts of Ghana which have previously undertaken azithromycin mass drug administration for trachoma control.

Yaws, caused by Treponema pallidum ssp. pertenue, is reportedly endemic in Ghana. Mass distribution of azithromycin is now the cornerstone of the WHO yaws eradication campaign.

Yaws Prevalence, Lessons from the Field and the Way Forward towards Yaws Eradication in Ghana.

Despite past WHO/UNICEF led global yaws eradication efforts, the disease seems to persist. The true burden is however not known for comprehensive action. Ghana's data showed significant increase in notified cases since the 1970s.

Trachoma in northern Ghana: a need for further studies.

Background: The northern Ghana Upper East Region [UER], Upper West Region [UWR], and Northern Region (NR) lie within the African trachoma belt. The 3 regions share common features of poverty, dryness, dusty environments, and poor environmental hygiene. Trachoma has been identified previously in the NR and the UWR as a disease of public health importance and a control program is underway.

Intermittent preventive treatment in infants as a means of malaria control: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in northern Ghana.

Morbidity and mortality from malaria remain unacceptably high among young children in sub-Saharan Africa. Intermittent preventive treatment in infancy (IPTi) involves the administration of antimalarials alongside routine vaccinations and might be an option in malaria control. In an area of intense, perennial malaria transmission in northern Ghana, 1,200 children received IPTi with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine or placebo at approximately 3, 9, and 15 months of age.

Chloroquine-treatment failure in northern Ghana: roles of pfcrt T76 and pfmdr1 Y86.

Although chloroquine (CQ) monotherapy is now generally inadequate for the treatment of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in northern Ghana--recently, 58% of 225 children failed treatment by day 14--use of the drug continues because of its low cost and wide availability. The risk factors associated with CQ-treatment failure in this region of Africa, including the T76 mutation in the chloroquine resistance transporter (pfcrt) gene and the Y86 mutation in the multidrug resistance (pfmdr1) gene of P. falciparum, have now been investigated, and genotype-failure indices (GFI) have been calculated.

Chloroquine blood concentrations and molecular markers of chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum in febrile children in northern Ghana.

Plasmodium falciparum malaria is a predominant reason for health care utilization among children in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the spread of resistance, chloroquine (CQ) is the most commonly used antimalarial. Little is known about the pattern of CQ use and resistance to the drug prior to attendance at a health care facility, and its impact on clinical presentation in children attending health care facilities in endemic regions.

Renal dysfunction in children with uncomplicated, Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Tamale, Ghana.

In a study performed in Tamale, in the Northern region of Ghana, cystatin C, a new and sensitive indicator of the glomerular filtration rate (GFR), was used to estimate the frequency of renal dysfunction in 78 children with uncomplicated, Plasmodium falciparum malaria. The excretion in urine of albumin, immunoglobulin G and alpha1-microglobulin was also investigated. Plasma concentrations of cystatin C were found to be elevated in 17% of the children, indicating subclinical impairment of renal function.

Efficacy of chloroquine in the treatment of uncomplicated, Plasmodium falciparum malaria in northern Ghana.

Chloroquine (CQ) resistance in Plasmodium falciparum contributes to growing malaria-attributable morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the extent and degree of such resistance vary considerably between endemic areas. Data on CQ resistance in northern Ghana are almost entirely lacking.