OBJECTIVES: Bejel, caused by Treponema pallidum subsp. endemicum (TEN), was until now considered as a non-venereal disease endemic in areas with hot and dry climates. This study has identified TEN in clinical samples from Cuban patients previously diagnosed with syphilis. METHODS: We performed sequencing-based molecular typing on 92 samples from Cuban individuals diagnosed with syphilis. Moreover, to differentiate T. pallidum subspecies, multi-locus sequence analysis (MLSA) was designed and was applied to suspicious samples. RESULTS: Nine samples, from six patients, had a nucleotide sequence similarity (at all typing loci) to the Bosnia A genome, which is the infectious agent of bejel. Additionally, MLSA clearly supported a TEN classification for the treponemal samples. Clinical and epidemiological data from the six patients also suggested sexual transmission of bejel as well as the endemicity of this rare treponematosis in Cuba. CONCLUSIONS: Molecular identification of Treponema pallidum subsp. endemicum, the agent of bejel, in Cuban patients diagnosed with syphilis indicates the clear limitations of a diagnosis based exclusively on serology, geographical occurrence, clinical symptoms and anamnestic data. This finding has important implications for Global Public Health Systems, including paradigm changes regarding the location of endemic outbreaks, clinical aspects and transmission of this neglected disease.
- MeSH
- dospělí MeSH
- fylogeneze MeSH
- lidé středního věku MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mladý dospělý MeSH
- molekulární typizace MeSH
- syfilis epidemiologie mikrobiologie MeSH
- Treponema pallidum klasifikace genetika MeSH
- Check Tag
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé středního věku MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mladý dospělý MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Kuba MeSH
- MeSH
- bederní obratle MeSH
- dítě MeSH
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- lumbalgie diagnóza etiologie MeSH
- magnetická rezonanční tomografie diagnostické užití MeSH
- meziobratlová ploténka patologie MeSH
- spondylolistéza MeSH
- statistika jako téma MeSH
- výhřez meziobratlové ploténky MeSH
- Check Tag
- dítě MeSH
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- MeSH
- buněčné linie MeSH
- imunizace MeSH
- interleukin-2 MeSH
- kultivační média MeSH
- techniky in vitro MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- zvířata MeSH
