What is Osteomyelitis?
Osteomyelitis is a chronic bacterial bone and joint infection that progressively destroys the bone and may also affect the joints. When the bone is infected, pus is produced within the bone, resulting in a foul-smelling discharge.
The condition often causes severe physical impairment if left untreated.
The condition often causes severe physical impairment if left untreated.
What Causes Osteomyelitis?
- Caused by bacterial infection that spreads to the bone via the blood stream
- In environments that lack clean water for cleansing, children are constantly exposed to harmful bacteria. This, in addition to a weakened immune system (e.g. through malnutrition and chronic malaria), makes children vulnerable to contracting this disease
- Risk factors include: malnutrition, poor hygiene, diabetes, poor circulation, extensive scarring, chronic wounds, walking barefoot on rough grounds (as that causes minor abrasions and allows bacteria to enter the body), smoking, chronic oedema, an impaired immune system
What Cures Osteomyelitis?
- Intravenous antibiotics, administered early, can help eliminate the infection
- Once the infection becomes chronic, however, surgical removal of dead and infected bone tissue and subsequent antibiotic treatment is necessary to cure the condition
- Reconstructive surgery is often needed
