Treponematosis Explained

Treponematosis
Field:	infectious disease

Treponematosis is a term used to individually describe any of the diseases caused by four members of the bacterial genus Treponema. The four diseases are collectively referred to as treponematoses:^[1]

• Syphilis (Treponema pallidum pallidum)
• Yaws (Treponema pallidum pertenue)
• Bejel (Treponema pallidum endemicum)
• Pinta (Treponema carateum)

Traditional laboratory tests cannot distinguish the treponematoses.^[2] However, sequence differences among the T. pallidum subspecies have been identified. Molecular approaches involving PCR to identify these sequences are being developed.^[3]

Notes and References

1. Giacani . L. . Lukehart . S. A. . Sheila Lukehart . 2014 . The Endemic Treponematoses . Clinical Microbiology Reviews . 27 . 1 . 89–115 . 10.1128/CMR.00070-13 . 3910905 . 24396138.
2. Marks M, Solomon AW, Mabey DC . Endemic treponemal diseases . Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene . 108 . 10 . 601–7 . October 2014 . 25157125 . 4162659 . 10.1093/trstmh/tru128 .
3. Mitjà O, Šmajs D, Bassat Q . Advances in the diagnosis of endemic treponematoses: yaws, bejel, and pinta . PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases . 7 . 10 . e2283 . 2013 . 24205410 . 3812090 . 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002283 . free .