Published Paper Details:

A chronic infectious disease caused by T. Carateum. The disease is now restricted to the Philippines and some areas of pacific .The disease is essentially one of childhood, often beginning after the age of 10- 15 years. Transmission is non venereal, by direct contact with infectious lesions. After an incubation period of 7- 21 days, an initial papular lesions appears on the hands and legs, followed by a macula papular, erythematous rash( pintides ) lasting for years. A late stages characterised by depigmented, lukodermic patches which may be permanent. In the treatment of pinta, the antibiotic of choices is benzathine pencillin G which has replaced PAM. The dose for patient under 10 years is 0.6 megaunits, and for those 10 years and over 1.2 megaunits. The peak age prevalence for pinta is somewhat older than for yaws or endemic syphilis, with individuals aged 15 to 30 years. Diagnosis is usually clinical, but as with yaws and bejel, serological tests for syphilis, such as rapid plasma regain (RPR) and TPHA, will be positive, and the spirochetes can be seen on dark field microscopy of samples taken from the early papules.Like other endemic treponematoses, pinta is thought to be spread through direct lesion contact. An important difference between pinta and the other endemic treponematoses is that without treatment the lesions tend to persist. The disease can be treated with penicillin, tetracycline , azithromycin or chloramphenicol.