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#IDFridays Week 40: Trachoma

Home #IDFridays #IDFridays Week 40: Trachoma

#IDFridays25/11/2016drasa_admin

This is the leading preventable infectious cause of blindness in the world

#IDFridays: Trachoma

Photo Credits: The Lancet, Irin

Name
Trachoma

Transmission

  • Trachoma is a bacterial infection of the eye
  • It spreads easily from person to person through contact with eyes, eyelids, nose, or throat secretions of infected people
  • It also spreads through flies that come in contact with the eyes or nose of an infected person
  • Handling infected items such as handkerchiefs or towels can also spread the bacteria that cause the disease
  • It is very common in children

Geography
Worldwide (Africa is the most affected continent)

Incubation Period
5 – 12 days

Signs and Symptoms

Symptoms are very similar to the symptoms of conjunctivitis:

  • Eye itching
  • Eye irritation
  • Swollen eyelids
  • Eye discharge (mucus or pus)
  • Eye pain
  • Light sensitivity

Diagnosis

  • Clinical diagnosis using wearable magnifying glasses is the most common way to diagnose
  • Diagnosis is also made through laboratory testing of bacteria from the eye

Treatment
Antibiotics are used to treat the infection

Prognosis

  • Untreated, it can lead to irreversible blindness
  • Repeated infections make the eyelids turn inward. The eyelashes scrape and permanently scar the cornea which leads to blindness
  • The infection is less frequent and lasts for a shorter amount of time in older people

Prevention: What Can You Do?

  • Good personal hygiene
  • Access to clean water and good sanitation systems

Trachoma In the News

  • Morocco eliminates trachoma – the leading infectious cause of blindness
  • Why is trachoma blinding Aboriginal children when mainstream Australia eliminated it 100 years ago?

Sources:
http://www.who.int/trachoma/disease/en/
http://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/ntd/diseases/trachoma_burden.html

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DRASA Health Trust is a public health organization working with government, local and international partners, community leaders, students, and health workers to promote adequate sanitation and hygiene, reduce and prevent the spread of infectious diseases, and strengthen Nigeria’s health security and emergency preparedness.

DRASA was established in memory of the late Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh who identified and contained Nigeria's first Ebola patient, preventing a major outbreak, but lost her life in the process.

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