Children's Disfiguring Facial Infection Preventable

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new report from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, stresses strategies to prevent the disfiguring infection, called noma and the urgency to fight the disease.

The infection can quickly destroy the face and mouth of young children and can be fatal if not treated early. The World Health Organization considers noma a health priority.

Noma occurs worldwide but is most commonly found in sub-Saharan Africa. Recently there have been sporadic cases in Europe and the United States. The infection usually strikes malnourished children between ages 1 and 4 and often spreads after an illness such as measles, tuberculosis or immunodeficiency strikes. It is common in environments with unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation and extreme poverty.

Researchers say noma can be prevented by improving living conditions, segregating livestock from human living quarters, promoting good oral-hygiene practices, breastfeeding exclusively in the first few months of life, and having timely immunization against common childhood diseases.

"Noma robs many children of their future," says Cyril O. Enwonwu, Sc.D., of the University of Maryland. "There is urgent need for countries where noma is still prevalent to set up control plans that emphasize prevention and early detection of the disease, while addressing poverty, environmental hygiene, perinatal health care, maternal and infant nutrition, and timely immunization against endemic diseases, particularly measles."

Researchers also say educational campaigns are needed at a national, regional and village level because parents and many health care workers are unaware of the disease. They add eradication of poverty should be a top priority at the governmental level.

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SOURCE: The Lancet, 2006;368:147-56