Pinta disease skin#

If pinta spreads to the eyes, irreversible eyelid deformities may persist. The lesions heal slowly over many months.

Pinta disease skin#

Treatment results in a complete cure, but will not undo any skin damage caused by the late stages of disease. PrognosisДЄpproximately 24 hours after the treatment the skin lesions are no longer infectious and the child can no longer transmit the disease to others. However if the child is allergic to penicillin, alternate antibiotics can be prescribed. This is very effective and is the treatment of choice. Pinta is usually treated with a single injection of benzathine penicillin G (Bicillin). A scraping of a lesion will be examined under the microscope to look for Treponema bacteria. A blood sample will be taken from the patient's arm to test for antibodies to Treponema carateum. The appearance of the lesions helps in the diagnosis. Pinta can be diagnosed by dermatologists (doctors who specialize in skin diseases) and infectious disease specialists. If the parent notices red scaly lumps, strange patterns of discoloration, or lesions on a child's skin the doctor should be contacted. The skin of older lesions will become depigmented (lose normal color). Pintid lesions progress through a range of color changes, from red to bluish-black. Many flat, red, scaly, itchy lesions called pintids occur either near the primary lesion, or scattered around the body. The second stage of pinta occurs between one and 12 months after the primary lesion stage.

Lymph nodes located near the infected area may become enlarged, but are painless. Smaller lesions then form around the primary lesion. The primary lesion usually appears at the site where the bacteria entered the skin, most often on the arms, legs, or face. The first sign of infection is a red, scaly, slowly enlarging bump on the skin. Symptoms occur two to four weeks after exposure to the bacteria. Pinta is caused by an infection with the bacterium Treponema carateum.

That number has been reduced drastically, and recently there are believed to be only a few hundred cases a year in those areas. In the 1950s, it is estimated that there were about one million cases of Pinta in South and Central America.

The disease is usually acquired during late childhood and adolescence. Pinta is primarily found in rural, poverty-stricken areas of northern South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The bacterial infection causes red, scaly lesions on the skin. Once inside the body, warmth and moisture allow the bacteria to multiply. The bacteria enter the skin through a small cut, scratch, or other skin damage. Pinta is spread from one person to another by direct skin-to-skin contact. It is one of several infections caused by different Treponema bacteria, which are called 'endemic' or 'non-venereal' treponematoses. The word 'pinta' comes from Spanish and means 'painted.' Pinta is also known as 'azula' (blue), and 'mal de pinto' (pinto sickness). Pinta is a skin infection caused by the bacterium Treponema carateum, a relative of the bacterium that causes syphilis. Pinta is a bacterial infection of the skin that causes lesions, red to bluish-black colored spots and splotches, and discoloration of the skin.