Case report: a rare case of NOMA (cancrum oris) in a Malian woman

Abstract

Noma or cancrum oris is a multi-bacterial and opportunistic infection that destroys soft tissue, as well as muscle and bone, and can be fatal. We present a rare case of Noma in a 32-year-old Malian woman, from whom we isolated an Escherichia coli extended-spectrum beta-lactamase.

Noma, a neglected disease: prevention is better than cure

“…Despite significant progress in scientific methods since these ancient reports, the literature on noma has predominantly been comprised of low level evidence such as case reports [10]. The focus of recent literature on noma (2019-2021) includes noma's distribution and risk factors [17][18][19], treatment [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34], knowledge and beliefs about the disease [14,[35][36][37] along with reviews of the literature and viewpoints [38][39][40][41]. Recent literature (2019-2021) has shown that noma cases are being reported from an increasingly diverse set of geographical locations outside of Africa including China [22,28], India [23], Vietnam, [24] and Indonesia [33] (Fig.…”

“…As such, the goal of noma surgery is to improve function where possible and the quality of life of the survivor. Recent studies have shown that a range of methods are used to treat noma cases, and that although prenoma functionality is not often restored, surgical treatment does improve patients' quality of life [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. Specific improvements included decreased social isolation and improved functionality such as eating and speaking [31].…”