Vol. 7, Issue 2, Part F (2025)

Some diseases are neglected, others are simply forgotten. Yaws belongs to the second group. It is caused by the Treponema pallidum subspecies pertenue. Yaws solely infects children below the age of 15 years in temperate, warm climates, especially in resource-poor communities. Yaws is transmitted through direct contact with the disease-infected skin. It is a multi-stage infection causing progressive skin and bone damage if left untreated. Unlike syphilis, yaws does not get transmitted through sexual contact, does not affect the central nervous system, and is not passed from the mother to the child.

A global WHO-initiated drive utilizing injectable penicillin in the 1950s and the 1960s reduced the number of instances by some 95%, but the disease re-emerged since then due to the fact that surveillance and health infrastructure were weakened. The discovery that a single dose of oral azithromycin functions similarly to penicillin re-energized programs of eradication with the hope for a safer and more practical mass drug administration (MDA) agent.

Diagnosis is difficult since existing serological tests are unable to differentiate among treponemal subspecies and, in endemic countries, access to molecular diagnostics is restricted. The current eradication plan adopted by the WHO, the Morges Strategy, puts forward total community treatment (TCT), with later targeted treatment (TTT). To eradicate the disease in the year 2030, with sustained surveillance, access to drugs, and political will, is possible