Trachoma is a chronic or recurrent keratoconjunctivitis caused by certain serotypes of Chlamydia trachomatis, a type of intracellular bacteria. How common is trachoma? What are the symptoms of chlamydial conjunctivitis and how is it treated?
Trachomameaningchronic or recurrent keratoconjunctivitis(Latintrachoma , synonyms : Egyptian conjunctivitis, chronic vesicular keratitis) are caused by serotypes A, B, Ba and CChlamydia trachomatis .
has not been present in Poland for many years, but is an endemic disease in Africa, Latin America, Australia, Asia and the Middle East.
Trachoma is one of the leading causes of blindness in the world. In Poland, chlamydial conjunctivitis is diagnosed quite rarely. However, this disease occurs more often than it is diagnosed.
Trachoma: symptoms
The characteristic symptoms of the disease are: mucopurulent discharge and follicular reaction (overgrown lymphoid tissue resembling rice grains) and a chronic, recurrent course of inflammation.The course of infection can be divided into 4 stages:
- at the beginning of the disease there is a feeling of a foreign body under the eyelid and conjunctivitis
- then trachoma clumps consisting of lymphocytes are formed
- the next stage is the appearance of scales as a result of papillary hypertrophy of the conjunctiva - whitish, covering it pellicle with vessels growing into it
- finally, there is scarring of the lesions leading to the eyelid eversion, the eyelashes grow in the wrong direction, irritating and constantly scratching the cornea. This causes damage, and the developing, difficult to heal ulcers lead to the formation of endosperm, i.e. permanent, degenerative clouding of the cornea
There are visual disturbances, and as the disease progresses, light stops penetrating the eyeball and the person loses their eyesight.
Eyelid scarring also contributes to the dysfunction of the glands in the eyelids, and thus - insufficient production of mucus and fatty components of tears.
This leads to the surface of the cornea and drying outaccelerates its degeneration. An additional complication is the recurrent barley, which heals hard and in some situations may require surgical intervention.
Trachoma: routes of infection and diagnosis
Infection is easily transmitted through direct contact. Infection occurs through contact with contaminated conjunctival secretions from dirty hands or through the use of dirty towels or clothing.
The diagnosis of trachoma is based on the characteristic clinical symptoms of the disease and the results of additional ophthalmological examinations.
Tragus: treatment
Treatment is mainly focused on administering antibiotics (Table 11, 15-22). The World He alth Organization has introduced the SAFE program (surgery, antibiotics, facial cleansing and environmental improvement). Topical medications are not effective.
If the endosperm has already been formed and the condition of the cornea and vision do not improve after eyelid surgery, the only way to restore vision is to have a cornea transplant.
The early therapy enables the treatment of trachoma without complications. In advanced lesions, conservative treatment protects only against the progression of changes, it does not eliminate deformations that have already occurred.
Past infection does not protect against recurrence, therefore preventive measures should be implemented consisting in improving the standards of life and personal hygiene.