The prevention and management of trachoma

What is trachoma? How many people are affected by trachoma? Trachoma is one of the major blinding diseases of the world. It is the most common infectious cause of blindness. Trachoma is caused by a recurrent, chronic eye infection. The organism involved is Chlamydia trachomatis. Episodes of infection usually begin in childhood, while blindness from corneal scarring occurs after repeated infection, scarring of the eyelids, distortion of the eyelashes, associated trauma and secondary bacterial infection. The World Health Organization estimates that 84 million people suffer from active trachoma and most of these are under 15 years of age. Up to 1.3 million are thought to be blind due to the eye disease. The widespread distribution of trachoma throughout the world and the dangers of consequent blindness makes this eye disease a serious public health problem in many parts of Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, India and South-east Asia. Trachoma is also found in some focal areas of Latin America and the Pacific region. It should be noted that with improved living conditions and standards of hygiene in some countries, for example in Europe and Taiwan, trachoma has largely been eradicated. Trachoma is a major cause of blindness worldwide. The list of eye diseases shown indicates the main blinding diseases as cataract, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, corneal opacities, diabetic retinopathy, childhood blindness, trachoma and onchocerciasis. In some severely affected areas, trachoma can be the most common cause of blindness.