NTD Intelligence

Trachoma

Neglected tropical disease intelligence: burden, staged therapeutics with published-evidence filter, and documented post-infectious syndrome with literature persistence rates.

Deaths / year
0
GBD (indicative unless refreshed)
DALYs / year
200,000
GBD
Pathogen
Bacteria
Post-infectious
Lasting sequela
Persistent symptoms
n/a

Post-infectious syndrome & persistent symptoms

Whether a post-acute infection syndrome is documented and the literature proportion with persistent symptoms.

Post-acute status
Conjunctival scarring -> trichiasis -> irreversible blindness
Classification
Lasting sequela
Onset
chronic/late
Persistent-symptom %
not quantified as a single figure (see notes)
Source: WHO trachoma (SAFE)

Therapeutic agents by stage

Vector control, prevention, acute treatment, and post-infectious care. Only agents with published evidence are shown by default.

Prevention

AgentTypeStatusMechanism / roleSource
Facial cleanliness & environmental improvement (F&E)PreventionApprovedWHO SAFE strategy — hygiene/environment armWHO EML / standard of care
Azithromycin (mass drug administration)AntibioticApprovedWHO SAFE strategy — antibiotic armWHO EML / standard of care

Acute phase

AgentTypeStatusMechanism / roleSource
Tetracycline eye ointmentAntibioticApprovedAlternative topical treatmentWHO EML / standard of care

Post-infectious phase

AgentTypeStatusMechanism / roleSource
Trichiasis surgerySurgicalApprovedSAFE surgery component for trichiasisWHO trachoma

Associated drug targets (Open Targets): SLC35A2, CXCL8, KLRC2, MMP9, HSPD1, TNF

Burden: IHME GBD (indicative seed unless refreshed) · Therapeutics: curated WHO EML / SOC + Open Targets pipeline · Post-infectious data: curated peer-reviewed literature · Ontology: MONDO_0005808 · Updated 2026-07-10. Associations, not a diagnostic test.