Buruli ulcer (BU) is a bacterial skin infection that is caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans and mainly affects people who reside in the rural areas of Africa and in suburban and beach resort communities in Australia.
Emerging Infectious Diseases • www.cdc.gov/eid • Vol. 25, No. 12, December 2019 2183
Buruli ulcer is a neglected tropical disease caused by Myocobacterium ulcerans; it manifests as a skin lesion, nodule, or ulcer that can be extensive and disabling. To assess the global burden and the progress ...on disease control, we analyzed epidemiologic data reported by countries to the World Health Organization during 2010–2017.
more
Buruli ulcer caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans is a neglected tropical disease characterized by extensive ulceration involving predominantly the upper and lower limbs of patients. The disease is common in rural tropical communities in West and Central Africa, where access to proper health care is lim...ited. Pathogenesis of the characteristic painless ulcers is linked to the elaboration by M. ulcerans of a lipid toxin called mycolactone that has potent cytopathic, immunosuppressive, and analgesic effects on a host of cells in cutaneous tissues. Mycolactone is known to profoundly inhibit secretion of a plethora of proteins that are essential for wound healing. Even though a combination antibacterial therapy of streptomycin and rifampicin for 8 weeks is effective for treatment, it relies on good and appropriate wound management to prevent secondary bacterial infections and improve healing. Evidence-based interventions for wound care in Buruli ulcer disease are often lacking and have relied on expert advice and recommendations. Surgical interventions are limited to debridement of necrotic tissue and grafting of extensive ulcers, usually after antibiotic therapy. Patients’ rehabilitation is an important component of care to reduce disabilities associated with the disease and proper integration into the community after treatment.
more
Nat Commun 9, 5370 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07804-8. Mycobacterium ulcerans is the causative agent of Buruli ulcer, a neglected tropical skin disease that is most commonly found in children from West and Central Africa. Despite the severity of the infection, therapeutic options are... limited to antibiotics with severe side effects. Here, we show that M. ulcerans is susceptible to the anti-tubercular drug Q203 and related compounds targeting the respiratory cytochrome bc1:aa3. While the cytochrome bc1:aa3 is the primary terminal oxidase in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the presence of an alternate bd-type terminal oxidase limits the bactericidal and sterilizing potency of Q203 against this bacterium. M. ulcerans strains found in Buruli ulcer patients from Africa and Australia lost all alternate terminal electron acceptors and rely exclusively on the cytochrome bc1:aa3 to respire. As a result, Q203 is bactericidal at low dose against M. ulcerans replicating in vitro and in mice, making the drug a promising candidate for Buruli ulcer treatment.
more
Au total, 18 laboratoires de 13 pays ont participé aux quatre cycles d'AQE : 10 laboratoires de huit pays africains endémiques, dont quatre ont participé aux quatre cycles et trois à trois cycles. Les résultats globaux ont montré que la performance médiane de ces laboratoires s'est amélioré...e au cours des quatre cycles. Cependant, la proportion de laboratoires rapportant des cas faussement positifs reste élevée et indique un problème de spécificité probablement dû à une contamination. La proportion de laboratoires rapportant à la fois des résultats faussement positifs et faussement négatifs soulève la question de la qualité des données rapportées par l'OMS en Afrique ainsi que des résultats des études menées dans ces différents laboratoires dans divers pays.
more
August 26, 2021
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009678
L’ulcère de Buruli, une infection causée par Mycobacterium ulcerans, touche plus de 33 pays dans le monde, mais un peu moins de la moitié seulement de ces pays communiquent régulièrement des données sur la maladie à l’OMS. La plupart des cas notifiés se trouvent dans les sous-régions d...Afrique occi-
dentale et centrale. Le mode de transmission de l’ulcère de Buruli n’est pas connu. Environ la moitié des personnes touchées sont des enfants de moins de 15 ans et les deux sexes sont concernés à parts égales.
Le diagnostic repose principalement sur l’observation des caractéristiques cliniques et épidémiologiques.
Parmi les quatre méthodes de confirmation utilisées (examen microscopique, amplification en chaîne par polymérase (PCR), histopathologie et mise en culture), la PCR est la plus rapide et la plus courament employée. D’autres méthodes rapides, comme l’utilisation de la chromatographie sur couche mince par fluorescence pour détecter la mycolactone dans les lésions des cas suspects d’ulcère de Buruli, sont actuellement à l’étude dans quatre pays d’Afrique. Des travaux de recherche sont en cours pour mettre au
point des tests utilisables sur le lieu des soins. Le traitement de l’ulcère de Buruli consiste à administrer une association d’antibiotiques (rifampicine et clarithromycine) pendant 8 semaines. Des traitements complémentaires, comme le soin des plaies, les greffes cutanées et la prévention des incapacités, sont nécessaires dans certains cas pour parvenir à une guérison complète.
La cible fixée par l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS) exigée des pays pour assurer la lutte contre l’ulcère de Buruli est la confirmation d’au moins 70 % des cas par PCR pour chaque pays. Tous les pays d’endémie disposent d’au moins un établissement doté des moyens nécessaires pour effectuer les tests de PCR pour la confirmation des cas. Cependant, la plupart des pays de la Région africaine n’ont pas réussi à atteindre la cible fixée. Un déclin du taux de confirmation a même été observé.
more
Buruli ulcer is caused by infection with Mycobacterium ulcerans. The disease is reported in more than 33 countries worldwide, but only about half of these countries regularly report data to WHO; most cases are reported from subregions of West and Central Africa. The mode of transmission is not known....
About half of those affected are children aged under 15 years; there is no gender difference. Diagnosis is based mainly on clinical and epidemiological characteristics. Of the four methods used for laboratory confirmation (microscopy, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), histopathology and culture), PCR is the most rapid and widely used. Other rapid methods for detection of mycolactone in lesions from suspected cases, such as fluorescent thin-layer chromatography, are under evaluation in four countries in Africa.
Research to develop point-of-care tests is in progress. Treatment of Buruli ulcer comprises 8 weeks of combined antibiotics (rifampicin and clarithromycin). Complementary therapies such as wound care, skin graft and prevention of disability are needed in some cases to ensure full recovery.
The target set by the World Health Organization (WHO) for control of Buruli ulcer is for countries to achieve a rate of case confirmation by PCR of at least 70%. All endemic countries have at least one PCR facility to support confirmation of cases. However, most countries in the WHO African Region have not been able to reach the target, and the rate of case confirmation has been declining
more
Phillips and colleagues have shown that rifampicin combined with clarithromycin is non-inferior to RS8, and is safer. This much anticipated trial provides us with a high degree of confidence that an 8-week course of oral rifampicin and clarithromycin should now be the cornerstone of the treatment of... Buruli ulcer everywhere. However, this finding does not mean that
Buruli ulcer is cured at 8 weeks.
more