Abstract

EMERGENCE OF HAEMOPHILUS DUCREYI INFECTION IN ITS NON-SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED CUTANEOUS FORM: A NEW CHALLENGE FOR GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH

Antonio Neres Norberg*, Paulo Roberto Blanco Moreira Norberg, Fernanda Castro Manhães, Bianca Magnelli Mangiavacchi, Alcemar Antônio Lopes de Matos, Lígia Cordeiro Matos Faial, Lívia Mattos Martins, Juliana Toledo Campos Arêas and Renato Mataveli Ferreira Filho

ABSTRACT

Haemophilus ducreyi is the etiological agent of chancroid, a sexually transmitted infection in its classical presentation form, which causes genital ulcers. This pathogen has recently been identified as the causative agent of nongenital cutaneous ulcers in children living in tropical regions where this pathogen is endemic. The objective of this research is to evaluate the change in the pattern of clinical presentations of Haemophilus ducreyi infections nowadays through the analysis of recent scientific literature. In the last decades, there was a perceptible change in the prevalence of clinical forms of Haemophilus ducreyi infections. Sexually-transmitted infections by this bacterium have been steadily decreasing, however, the emergence of non-sexually transmitted cutaneous forms is remarkable and worrisome. The form of infection by direct skin contact – and possibly through mechanical vectors such as flies or inanimate surfaces – directly impacts on the amplitude of the population susceptible to infection. There is a near-coincidence of the areas of the highest prevalence of the nonsexually transmitted cutaneous form of Haemophilus ducreyi and of the highest prevalence of yaws by Treponema pallidum var. pertenue. The sharing of specific conditions in these areas may have allowed the convergent evolution between Haemophilus ducreyi in its non-sexually transmitted form and Treponema pallidum var. pertenue.

Keywords: Haemophilus ducreyi, Non-sexual transmission, Prevalence patterns, adaptation, Convergent evolution.