Health experts across the UK are raising alarms over the resurgence of donovanosis, a rare sexually transmitted infection (STI) typically linked to developing countries. This bacterial disease causes painful, oozing wounds that erode tissue.
Donovanosis, also known as granuloma inguinale, is caused by the bacterium Klebsiella granulomatis. Long endemic in parts of India, Brazil, and Papua New Guinea, it's now seeing an uptick in the UK, as reported by The Sun.
UK doctors recorded 19 cases in 2016 and 30 in 2019, according to Public Health England. Numbers dipped during COVID-19 lockdowns but have risen again post-restrictions.
The infection starts with small, painless nodules on the genitals—penis, vulva, labia, or anus—appearing 10 to 40 days after exposure. These can mimic syphilis but eventually ulcerate, leading to open, beefy-red sores that ooze mucus and blood, earning it the 'flesh-eating' moniker.
Untreated, it destroys deeper tissues, potentially affecting the vaginal wall or cervix. Complications include superinfections, heightened HIV risk through open lesions, and in extreme cases, death. A 2008 case in India involved penile amputation in an HIV-2 patient.
First identified in 1882, donovanosis was rare outside certain regions until recently. UK specialist Dr. Shree Datta, an obstetrician-gynecologist, notes its growing prevalence. Prevention includes condom use, and effective antibiotic treatments are available.
