infectious diseases
Chancroid
Introduction
Chancroid is infection of the genital skin or mucous membranes caused byHaemophilus ducreyiand characterized by papules, painful ulcers, and enlargement of the inguinal lymph nodes leading to suppuration. Diagnosis is usually clinical because culturing the organism is difficult. Treatment is with a macrolide (azithromycinorerythromycin),ceftriaxone, orciprofloxacin. (See also Overview of Sexually Transmitted Infections .) Haemophilus ducreyiis a short, slender, gram-negative bacillus with rounded ends. Chancroid is a rare sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the US and other resource-rich countries, occurring primarily in occasional, local epidemics. Chancroid is a common cause of genital ulcers in resource-poor areas of Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. Like other STIs causing genital ulcers, chancroid increases risk of HIV transmission. may also cause nongenital skin ulcers in children and adults, which has been reported in countries of the South Pacific region and Indonesia ( General references , 