Nairobi, Kenya.
In the lounge at my Nairobi hotel I talked with someone from England who comes to work here, clearly in the business world, about trachoma. Trachoma, classified often as an NTD-Neglected Tropical Disease, is caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, an intracellular bacteria whose different serotypes have brought us not only Trachoma (the leading cause of preventible blindness in the world), but also chlamydia the STD. It’s traditionally treated with Azithromycin–a simple macrolide antibiotic. Said businessman’s buddy developed repeated conjunctival infections with C. trachomatis from working in the field. And, because he was opposed to taking antibiotics (“…they aren’t natural”). My unofficial host mother in Lafiabougou, Mali had trachoma and the corneal scarring eventually led her to loose her vision in one eye. She though did not have access to western medicine, money to buy the antibiotics even if she could get them nor the means to prevent future infections. What a contrast.
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October 7, 2007 at 9:46 pm
When immigrants arrived in America at Ellis Island, officials would pull their eye with a hook to check for trachoma.