With the introduction of the WHO-recommended antibiotic combination therapy of rifampicin with streptomycin, killing of the causative pathogen is usually achieved, as indicated by low recurrence rates. However, subsequent wound healing is often very slow, leading to hospital stays, often more than three months per patient. These long stays represent an enormous burden for health systems in resource-poor endemic settings, a huge loss in productivity for adult patients and family caregivers, and a significant loss of educational opportunities for children.

In an interdisciplinary approach, researchers from the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in Ghana and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, in collaboration with colleagues from University Hospital Heidelberg and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich, plan to document the healing process of up to 200 Buruli ulcer patients in Ghana. M. ulcerans resistance against antibiotics, immunohistological characteristics, and superinfections with other pathogens will be studied.

This study will make an important contribution to the understanding of retarded wound healing, and it is expected that these findings can be used to develop wound care procedures that are adapted to resource-poor settings.