The stages of bejel - Effects on skin and bones

Don't remain uninformed about Bejel, a significant yet often overlooked childhood infection. Understanding this disease is key to recognizing its impact and supporting global health efforts. This guide provides the essential facts you need.

What are the main causes of Bejel?

• What is bejel? It is an infection caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum endemicum, a subspecies of the bacteria that causes venereal syphilis.
• This nonvenereal treponemal disease is highly contagious, spreading primarily through direct skin-to-skin contact with lesions or shared utensils, not sexually.
• It typically affects children living in poor, crowded conditions in arid regions of the Middle East, Africa, and parts of Asia.

Key symptoms of Bejel to watch for

• The initial bejel symptoms often include painless oral lesions bejel, such as mucous patches that appear inside the mouth, cheeks, or on the tongue.
• Later, raised, wart-like skin lesions bejel can develop on the trunk and limbs, along with painful sores on the soles of the feet.
• If left untreated, the disease can progress to cause destructive lesions of the bones, joints, and soft tissues in its late stages.

How can you prevent Bejel effectively?

• Prevention focuses on improving personal hygiene, such as regular handwashing, and avoiding the sharing of eating and drinking utensils in endemic areas.
• Early case detection and treatment of infected individuals and their close contacts are crucial to breaking the chain of transmission in a community.
• Global health initiatives, like the WHO eradication program for endemic treponematoses, aim to eliminate bejel through mass drug administration campaigns.

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Illustration of Bejel's influence

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A timely diagnosis of bejel is essential for effective care. The standard bejel treatment is a single, effective dose of long-acting penicillin. Prompt medical intervention can cure the infection and prevent long-term complications.

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