The Disease and Treatment

The Disease

The Buruli ulcer is a skin disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium ulcerans, which is a genetic cousin to the bacteria that causes leprosy and tuberculosis. Like leprosy, patients with the Buruli ulcer develop open and unattractive sores on their body that can eventually cripple and even kill them.

The Buruli ulcer is most prevalent in tropical countries, particularly in West Africa. It is more common than leprosy in Ghana, and the numbers keep growing. It's also more common in children than adults. About 70 percent of those with the disease are younger than 15 years, and it mainly affects children in poor, rural areas.

The bacteria get below the skin surface and multiply, eating away at the sub-skin tissue for weeks or months, without the victim knowing it. Eventually, the skin over the affected area dies off and a deep, and sometimes very large lesion or ulcer is formed. If left untreated, the ulcer can spread to include most of an arm or leg but it remains localized since it is not carried by the blood.

In many of the African villages the people do not understand what is going on when the Buruli ulcer first appears and they think the child is "possessed." Due to this lack of knowledge and instead of getting to the problem quickly the ulcer is allowed to spread and doctors are left to treat advanced stages of the disease. At that point they may require surgery and skin transplants. And if the bone has been attacked by the bacteria, amputation may be the only way to save the patient's life.

Beyond the clinical definitions is the real human tragedy of this disease. The Buruli ulcer carries with it the same social stigma and human suffering that leprosy did centuries ago. Due to a lack of understanding of the disease and widespread fear of it, children in Ghana with the Buruli ulcer are often locked up and kept far away from society – treated as social outcasts who are thought to be infected by evil spirits. Since many children with the Buruli ulcer are hidden from society, their cases remain hidden from healthcare workers and they do not get the medical attention they need.

Treatment

The good news is that products like simple antibiotics and topical wound care products developed by McCord Research can heal and virtually eliminate the Buruli ulcer, when treated at early onset. And it costs less than $15 to treat a child suffering from this disease – about the same price as a large pizza.

The bad news is that a lack of money, education and understanding about this disease is preventing many children from receiving the treatment they need. Consequently, they are suffering in silence, ostracized from society and isolated from friends, family and medical care.

This is where programs like the Buruli Ulcer Foundation's Pennies Have Power come into play.