Chancroid is an acute localized, autoinoculable venereaI disease caused by Haemophilus ducreyi, characterized clinicaIly by painful ulceration at the site of incubation, and frequently accompanied by regional lymphadenopathy, and short incubation period. Three cases of chancroid were seen in Won Ju city, Kangwondo, Korea. All of the patients were male, and painful ulcers developed on genital region in 2 to 3 days after sexual contacts. Direct smear showed the characteristic "school-of-fish" arrangement of Haemophilus ducreyi by Gram stain. There were no regional lymphadenopathies and VDRL test were negative. Treatments were done with sulfisoxazole (Gantrisin) in case I, with sulfamethoxydiazine(Bayrena) and streptomycin in case 2, and with sulfamethoxydiazine and tetracycline in case 3 with exccllent results.
Chancroid* ; Gangwon-do ; Haemophilus ducreyi ; Humans ; Korea ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Male ; Streptomycin ; Sulfameter ; Sulfisoxazole ; Tetracycline ; Ulcer

OBJECTIVETo establish a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (M-PCR) assay for simultaneous detection of pathogens causing genital ulcer disease (GUD).

METHODSBased on the gene-specific region of the following pathogens: Chlamydia trachomatis omp1/ompb, herpes simplex virus (HSV) DNA polymerase, Treponema pallidum tpp47, Haemophilus ducreyi 16s rRNA, four sets of primers were designed and an M-PCR assay was developed to detect four pathogens in one test. The assay was evaluated with diagnostic result of golden standard for each pathogen.

RESULTSOf the 51 clinical samples, M-PCR showed slightly higher positive rate (47.1%) of HSV than cell culture (23.6%). Meanwhile, the positive rate of T. pallidum detected by M-PCR and dark-field microscopy was 19.6% (10/51) and 15.7% (8/51), respectively. Only one sample was positive for H. ducreyi and no sample was positive for C. trachomatis detected by both M-PCR assay and culture.

CONCLUSIONThis primary study indicated that M-PCR assay can simultaneously and rapidly detect the four etiologic pathogens causing GUD.

Chlamydia trachomatis ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; DNA Primers ; Haemophilus ducreyi ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Herpesvirus 1, Human ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Herpesvirus 2, Human ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Sexually Transmitted Diseases ; complications ; microbiology ; virology ; Treponema pallidum ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Ulcer ; complications ; microbiology ; virology