Tropical doctor
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Injury is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Utilizing a partnership between Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) and the University of North Carolina Departments of Surgery, we describe an approach to injury surveillance, examine the utility of trauma scoring systems, and outline steps necessary before such scoring systems can be reliably instituted in a resource-constrained setting.
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Recent reports from the island of Tanna in Vanuatu suggest that yaws has resurged. We carried out a serological and clinical survey to determine the prevalence and clinical presentation of yaws on the island. ⋯ Intramuscular benzathine penicillin is the currently recommended treatment for yaws. We suggest that a stat dose of oral azithromycin would be a more accessible treatment as it could be prescribed by village health workers and therefore enable yaws control to be more easily incorporated into other primary health-care programmes.