Treponema pertenue
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| ( Castellani 1905) Castellani & Chalmers 1910 |
Treponema pertenue , also Treponema pallidum pertenue for short T. p. called pertenue , is a bacterium of the genus Treponema and the causative agent of yaws . This pathogen was discovered in 1905 by Aldo Castellani shortly after the discovery of the syphilis pathogen Treponema pallidum (then: Spirochaeta pallida ).
The four treponematoses
The differentiation of yam disease from the other three infectious diseases by bacteria of the genus Treponema (treponematoses) - (venereal) syphilis , (non- venereal ) endemic or tropical syphilis and pinta - poses a problem both from a historical perspective and for current bacteriological research For the historian there is an ultimately insurmountable difficulty in assigning old reports on skin diseases to the often very similar skin symptoms of these four diseases and a few others, such as leprosy . Correspondingly, in the history of research into treponematoses, doctors had great difficulty in clinically differentiating between venereal and non-venereal diseases. Even classical bacteriology has not yet been able to finally solve this problem, since there are not even morphologically consistent differences between the causative agent of yaws and venereal syphilis, even under the electron microscope. Even the common serology is the same for the different treponematoses.
For the patient, this distinction is anything but academic, but of the greatest relevance: While in syphilis (through Treponema pallidum ), with the exception of the tropical endemic forms, it can essentially only infect others through sexual contact , this is the case with yaw males ( due to Treponema pertenue ) from the secretions of the skin ulcers. The non-venereal treponematoses limit their infestation to the skin, mucous membrane and bones, Pinta (due to Treponema carateum ) even only to the skin. In contrast, the late stages of venereal syphilis damage internal organs, including the cardiovascular system and the nervous system.
literature
- Walter Bruchhausen: Frambösie - the less known sister of syphilis. In: Aviation and Travel Medicine. 2002, No. 4, 42-44.
- Boris Velimirovic: Tropical treponematoses (except venereal syphilis). In: Lang, Werner (Ed.): Tropical medicine in clinic and practice. Thieme, Stuttgart 1993, 292-297.