DISEASE NAME:
Chancroid
CATEGORY:
STIs
Chancroid
Chancroid (sometimes referred to as ‘soft chancre’) is an acute ulcerative disease, usually of the genitals, caused by infection with the gram-negative anaerobic bacterium, Haemophilus ducreyi.
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Chancroid is a sexually acquired anogenital infection, caused by the bacterium Haemophilus ducreyi, and is rare in Europe.
Chancroid may be misidentified for a number of reasons; its similarity with a syphilitic chancre, its rare occurrence in Europe, and difficulties in detecting the causative pathogen.
The incubation period of chancroid is 4-7 days. Initial clinical features include tender erythematous papules, most often on the prepuce and frenulum in men and on the vulva, cervix, and perianal area in women. Genital papules quickly progress into pustules, which rupture after a few days and develop into genital ulcers, which are soft and painful, and regional lymphadenitis, which may develop into swelling and the formation of abscesses in the glands in the groin area (known as buboes).
Diagnosis is confirmed through laboratory testing. Antibiotics are usually effective in curing chancroid, however longer treatment courses may be necessary in immunocompromised patients. In advanced cases, scarring can occur, despite successful therapy.
Last updated: 20 August 2019
Case definition
Clinical criteria
Any person with the following clinical picture: chancroid is a sexually transmitted disease characterized by painful genital ulceration and inflammatory inguinal adenopathy
Laboratory criteria
Isolation of H. ducreyi from a clinical specimen
Epidemiological criteria
NA
Case classification
A. Possible case
NA
B. Probable case
Any person meeting the clinical criteria with both a) no evidence of Treponema pallidum infection by darkfield microscopic examination of ulcer exudate or by a serologic test for syphilis performed greater than or equal to 7 days after onset of ulcers and b) either a clinical presentation of the ulcer(s) not typical of disease caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV) or a culture negative for HSV
C. Confirmed case
Any person meeting the clinical and the laboratory criteria
Current as of: 24 January 2019
Information, Data and Reports for Chancroid
Ireland’s specialist service for the surveillance of communicable diseases.