Further Outpatient Care
Patients diagnosed with chancroid should have close follow-up to ensure successful treatment. Sexual partners should be treated, regardless of whether or not they have symptoms, if they have had sexual contact with the patient in the 10 days prior to the patient's symptoms. HIV testing and counseling are essential to diagnose those patients who are coinfected with this disease.
Inpatient & Outpatient Medications
- See Medication.
Deterrence/Prevention
- Advise patients to always use condoms and to refrain from sexual activity with high-risk partners.
- Travelers to areas where chancroid is endemic should be counseled about this disease.
Complications
- Rupture of buboes, with subsequent scarring and/or chronic sinus tract drainage
- Phimosis and balanoposthitis
Prognosis
- With appropriate antibiotics, prognosis is excellent for complete disease resolution.
- Patients with HIV may require longer courses of antibiotics and have a protracted recovery phase.
Patient Education
- Emphasize avoidance of high-risk sexual activities, including unprotected sexual intercourse or sexual intercourse with high-risk partners.
- For excellent patient education resources, visit eMedicine's Sexually Transmitted Diseases Center and Pregnancy and Reproduction Center. Also, see eMedicine's patient education articles Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Birth Control Overview, and Birth Control FAQs.
Janowicz DM, Ofner S, Katz BP, Spinola SM. Experimental Infection of Human Volunteers with Haemophilus ducreyi: Fifteen Years of Clinical Data and Experience. J Infect Dis. Jun 1 2009;199(11):1671-9. [Medline].
Mohammed TT, Olumide YM. Chancroid and human immunodeficiency virus infection--a review. Int J Dermatol. Jan 2008;47(1):1-8. [Medline].
Bauer ME, Townsend CA, Doster RS, Fortney KR, Zwickl BW, Katz BP, et al. A fibrinogen-binding lipoprotein contributes to the virulence of Haemophilus ducreyi in humans. J Infect Dis. Mar 1 2009;199(5):684-92. [Medline].
Leduc I, Banks KE, Fortney KR, Patterson KB, Billings SD, Katz BP, et al. Evaluation of the repertoire of the TonB-dependent receptors of Haemophilus ducreyi for their role in virulence in humans. J Infect Dis. Apr 15 2008;197(8):1103-9. [Medline].
Banks KE, Fortney KR, Baker B, Billings SD, Katz BP, Munson RS Jr, et al. The enterobacterial common antigen-like gene cluster of Haemophilus ducreyi contributes to virulence in humans. J Infect Dis. Jun 1 2008;197(11):1531-6. [Medline].
CDC. 2008 Sexually Transmitted Diseases Surveillance. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/std/stats08/other.htm. Accessed 11/11/10.
World Health Organization. An overview of selected curable sexually transmitted diseases. World Health Organization. Available at http://www.who.int/asd/figures/globalreport.html#chancroid. Accessed 10/28/10.
Corbell, Catherine BPharm, MSc*; Stergachis, Andy PHD†‡; Ndowa, Francis MBChB§; Ndase, Patrick MBChB, et al. Genital Ulcer Disease Treatment Policies and Access to Acyclovir in Eight Sub-Saharan African Countries. Sexually Transmitted Diseases. August 2010;37:488-493. [Full Text].
Wang CC, Celum CL. Global risk of sexually transmitted diseases. Med Clin North Am. Jul 1999;83(4):975-95, vi. [Medline].
Hand WL. Haemophilus species including chancroid. In: Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett's Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. Philadelphia, Pa:. Churchill Livingstone;2000:2380-2381.
Benson PA, Hergenroeder AC. Bacterial sexually transmitted infections in gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents: medical and public health perspectives. Semin Pediatr Infect Dis. Jul 2005;16(3):181-91. [Medline].
H A Weiss, S L Thomas, S K Munabi, R J Hayes. Male circumcision and risk of syphilis, chancroid, and genital herpes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sex Transm Infect. 2006;82:101-110. [Full Text].
Mohammed TT, Olumide YM. Chancroid and human immunodeficiency virus infection--a review. Int J Dermatol. Jan 2008;47(1):1-8. [Medline]. [Full Text].
Alfa M. The laboratory diagnosis of Haemophilus ducreyi. Can J Infect Dis Med Microbiol. Jan 2005;16(1):31-4. [Medline].
T R Suntoke, A Hardick, A A R Tobian, et al. Evaluation of multiplex real-time PCR for detection of Haemophilus ducreyi, Treponema pallidum, herpes simplex virus type 1 and 2 in the diagnosis of genital ulcer disease in the Rakai District, Uganda. Sex Transm Infect. April/2009;85:97-101. [Medline]. [Full Text].
Rosen T, Vandergriff T, Harting M. Antibiotic use in sexually transmissible diseases. Dermatol Clin. Jan 2009;27(1):49-61. [Medline].
Czelusta A, Yen-Moore A, Van der Straten M. An overview of sexually transmitted diseases. Part III. Sexually transmitted diseases in HIV-infected patients. J Am Acad Dermatol. Sep 2000;43(3):409-32; quiz 433-6. [Medline].
Mohammed, T. T. and Olumide, Y. M. Chancroid and human immunodeficiency virus infection - a review. International Journal of Dermatology [serial online]. 2008;47:1-8. Available from: doi: 10.1111/j.1365-4632.2007.03435.x. Accessed 11/12/2010. Available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-4632.2007.03435.x/full.
Zuckerman JM. Macrolides and ketolides: azithromycin, clarithromycin, telithromycin. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2004;18:621-649. [Medline].

