Barriers to Eradicating Elephantiasis—A Debilitating Disease Spread By Mosquitoes globalbiodefense.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from globalbiodefense.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Noma (from the Greek: “to devour”), aka
cancrum oris is an orofacial gangrene, mainly occurring in malnourished children debilitated by disease and living in the developing world, particularly sub-Saharan Africa.
CDC/ Robert S. Craig
The mortality of noma is high (90 percent in the absence of treatment) and the survivors harbor such facial deformities that they are often rejected from society and family life.
The etiology of noma is multifactorial with malnutrition as an ever present factor, often in combination with concomitant diseases, such as measles, malaria, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and poor oral hygiene.
The pathogenesis is a fast-spreading, noncontagious gangrenous infection occurring in the face, often preceded by acute necrotizing gingivitis, and stomatitis. Rare microbiological studies suggest an opportunistic infection caused by an imbalance in normal intraoral microorganisms.