Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.
Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.
What are developmental stages in the course of yaws?
Yaws has four stages: primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary. The primary stage is the appearance of the mother yaw. Patients with yaws develop recurring ("secondary") lesions and more swollen lymph nodes. This represents the secondary stage. These secondary lesions may be painless like the mother yaw or they may be filled with pus, burst, and ulcerate. The affected child often experiences malaise (feels poorly) and anorexia (loss of appetite). The latent stage occurs when the disease symptoms abate, although an occasional lesion may occur. In the
tertiary stage, yaws can destroy areas of the skin, bones, and joints and deform them. The palms of the hands and soles of the feet tend to become thickened and painful
(crab yaws).
How is yaws diagnosed?
Yaws is suspected in any child who has the characteristic clinical
features and lives in an area where the disease is common. With
increasing travel, a child once in the tropics may carry the disease
to a more temperate area of the world.
Laboratory confirmation of the diagnosis is by blood serum tests (for
example, RPR or rapid plasma reagent test, VDRL test or venereal disease research
laboratory test, TPHA or Treponema pallidum hemagglutination test, FTA-ABS or fluorescent treponema antibody absorption), but most frequently the diagnosis is made on clinical findings. The reason that
T. pallidum serum tests are used is that the spirochetes are so closely related, they have similar antigens on their surfaces so that
T. pallidum and T. pertenue are cross-reactive (detected by the same serological tests). Special (dark-field) examination under the microscope in which technicians can actually see the spirochete bacterium is also used to help diagnose yaws. The lesions (both the mother yaw and the secondary lesions) usually have many
T. pertenue organisms that can be visualized with dark-field examination of lesion scrapings. On a typical Gram stain (a procedure for identifying bacteria when viewed microscopically), the organisms are considered to be
Gram-negative but stain so poorly and are so small and thin, the Gram stain often does not reveal the organisms; hence the use of the dark-field examination. Other tests that detect spirochetes such as a silver stain or electron microscopy are used mainly by research scientists.
Sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs,
are infections that are transmitted during any type of sexual exposure,
including intercourse (vaginal or anal), oral sex, and the sharing of sexual
devices, such as vibrators. Women can contract all of the STDs, but may have no symptoms, or have different symptoms than men do.
Sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs, are infections that are transmitted during any
type of sexual exposure, including intercourse (vaginal or anal), oral sex, and
the sharing of sexual devices, such as vibrators. Although treatment exists for many STDs, others currently are
usually incurable, such as those caused by HIV, HPV, hepatitis B and C, and HHV-8.
Scar formation is a natural part of the healing process after injury. The depth and size of the wound incision and the location of the injury impact the scar's characteristics, but your age, heredity and even sex or ethnicity will affect how your skin reacts.
Travelers should prepare for their trip by visiting their physician to get the proper vaccinations and obtain the necessary medication if they have a medical condition or chronic disease. Diseases that travelers may pick up from contaminated water or food, insect or animal bites, or from other people include malaria, meningococcal meningitis, yellow fever, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, polio, and cholera.
Children's health is focused on the well-being of children from conception through adolescence. There are many aspects of children's health, including growth and development, illnesses, injuries, behavior, mental illness, family health and community health.
Infectious Disease RSS
Healthy Living Tips
This site complies with the