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Prevention
By Mayo Clinic staffIf you're traveling to parts of the world where trachoma is endemic, be sure to practice good hygiene to prevent infection.
If you've been treated for trachoma with antibiotics or surgery, reinfection is always a concern. For your protection and for the safety of others, be sure that family members or others you live with are screened and, if necessary, treated for trachoma.
Proper hygiene practices include:
- Face washing. Keeping faces clean, especially children's, can help break the cycle of reinfection.
- Controlling flies. Reducing fly populations can help eliminate a major source of transmission.
- Proper waste management. Properly disposing animal and human waste can reduce breeding grounds for flies.
- Improved access to water. Having a fresh water source nearby can help improve hygienic conditions.
Although no vaccine is available, trachoma prevention is possible. For instance, trachoma virtually disappeared in the United States by the 1950s due to improved sanitation and living conditions. The disease has also almost disappeared in certain countries, such as Morocco, where health organizations have been active in public education and have helped promote therapies known to cure the disease.
- Trachoma. World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/diseases/trachoma/en/index.html. Accessed May 20, 2010.
- What is trachoma? International Trachoma Initiative. http://www.trachoma.org/core/sub.php?cat=trachoma&id=trachoma. Accessed May 20, 2010.
- Conjunctivitis. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec09/ch101/ch101c.html#sec09-ch101-ch101c-273. Accessed May 20, 2010.
- WHO simplified trachoma grading system. Community Eye Health. 2004;17:52. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1705737. Accessed May 20, 2010.
- Wright HR. Epidemiology, diagnosis, and management of trachoma. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 20, 2010.
- Trachoma. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/trachoma_t.htm. Accessed May 20, 2010.
- Robertson DM (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. June 1, 2010.
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