Glossary of Medical and Health Terms

Chancroid

Chancroid is a sexually transmitted infection characterized by painful sores on the genitalia. Chancroid is known to be spread from one to another individual through sexual contact.

Chancroid is a bacterial infection caused by the fastidious Gram-negative streptobacillus Haemophilus ducreyi. It is a disease found primarily in developing countries, associated with commercial sex workers and their clientele.

Infection levels are low in the western world, typically around one case per two million of the population (Canada, France, UK and USA). Most individuals diagnosed with chancroid have visited countries or areas where the disease is known to occur frequently, although outbreaks have been observed in association with crack cocaine use and prostitution.

Uncircumcised men are at three times greater risk than circumcised men for contracting chancroid from an infected partner. Chancroid is a risk factor for contracting HIV, due to their ecological association or shared risk of exposure, and biologically facilitated transmission of one infection by the other.

Associated ICD-10 code: A57.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancroid

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