Chancroid Essay

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Chancroid is a rather contagious sexually-transmitted disease caused by a bacterial pathogen Haemophilus ducreyi. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a probable diagnosis is established if there is one or more painful genital ulcers, typical presentation with regional lymphadenopathy, no evidence of syphilis, and a negative test for herpes simplex virus. A history of sexual intercourse followed by the formation of painful ulcers on genitalia, as well as the development of fluctuant, unilateral bubo (i.e. regional inflammation and enlargement of one or more lymph nodes) are the classic indicators that point towards the diagnosis of chancroid. Clinical diagnosis and recovery of Haemophilus ducrey in the laboratory …show more content…

Improved isolation rates are observed in microaerophilic conditions when culture plates are incubated in a closed anaerobic system without a catalyst, but with two carbon dioxide and hydrogen generating sachets. As different strains exhibit various growth morphotyes, the combination of different culture media (at least two of them) should be used to achieve optimal recovery rates. This is further increased if transport time is minimized, and if specimens are kept at 4 °C at all times during transit. Successful culture of Haemophilus ducreyi is pivotal for establishing a definite diagnosis of chancroid, although it cannot rule out other potential concomitant infections. In addition, the importance of culture is evident when antimicrobial susceptibility is warranted (e.g. in instances of therapeutic failure). Molecular and serologic methods Nucleic acid amplification techniques (often abbreviated as NAATs) have proven reliable for identifying Haemophilus ducreyi in clinical samples. Specific growth requirements of individual strains do not influence the outcome of these molecular methods, which is why detection rates are continually higher when compared to classical

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