Projekt

In a 'proof of principle' study an innovative heat application system (phase change material [PCM]) to treat Mycobacterium ulcerans disease (Buruli ulcer [BU]) was successfully explored. It is easy to apply and to recharge in hot water, non-toxic, non-hazardous to the environment and cheap. This opens up a new era in the treatment of Mycobacterium ulcerans disease, in particular for communities with limited resources where the disease is most prevalent. Until today, treatment of BU is unsatisfactory with wide surgical excisions and skin grafting as the standard treatment over the past decades. Chemotherapy, has been repeatedly evaluated with varying results, but even if this treatment is successful, operational problems, community acceptability and potential resistance development, both, in M. ulcerans and in co-infecting M. tuberculosis, are foreseeable limitations. The current study will (1) determine the optimal heat dosing schemes for the full range of stages of BU, (2) establish the basic mechanisms relevant for the heat-induced alterations of the host-pathogen interactions, (3) prospectively evaluate a staging system for BU and (4) explore the community effectiveness of PCM - based heat treatment in a pilot study.

• Prof. Dr. Thomas Junghanss

  Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg
  Zentrum für Infektiologie
  Sektion Klinische Tropenmedizin
  Heidelberg
  

• Dr. Alphonse Um Boock

  FAIRMED
  Bureau Regional pour l'Afrique
  Yaoundé
  Kamerun (Cameroun)
  

• Dr. Dorothy Yeboah-Manu

  University of Ghana
  Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research
  Legon
  Ghana
  

• Dr. Ernestina Mensah-Quainoo

  Ghana Health Service
  Municipal Health Directorate
  Tema
  Ghana
  

• Prof. Dr. Gerd Pluschke

  Swiss Tropical and Public Health
  Institute TPH
  Molecular Immunology Unit
  Basel
  Schweiz