Donovanosis
Overview
- Donovanosis is a rare cause of genital ulceration but should be considered in patients returning from areas where the disease may be endemic e.g. PNG, Southern Africa, India and parts of South America.
- Primarily sexually transmissible but may be transmitted vertically and by casual contact.
- Incident cases were found as recently as mid 2000s in northern and tropical Australia among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, but it is now very rare in these areas.
Cause
Klebsiella granulomatis
Clinical presentation
Male | Female |
Symptoms | |
Relatively painless ano-genital ulceration |
Relatively painless ano-genital ulceration |
Lesions may be
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Lesions may be
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Secondary anaerobic bacterial infection may result in offensive odour in association with the primary lesions. | Lesions may involve the vulvo-labial area, vagina, cervix, perineum and perianal area. |
Complications | |
Extra-genital disease is rare but may involve non-genital mucous membranes e.g. mouth, external ear canal and distant sites through haematogenous spread e.g. long bones, psoas muscle. | Extra-genital disease is rare but may involve non-genital mucous membranes e.g. mouth, external ear canal and distant sites through haematogenous spread e.g. long bones, psoas muscle. |
Chronic, untreated ulcers may undergo neoplastic transformation. | Contiguous spread from cervix to pelvis may involve uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries and other pelvic structures. |
Increase in HIV transmission risk. | Chronic lesions may cause local tissue lymphatic destruction with subsequent pseudo-elephantiasis of genitalia. |
Vertical transmission to neonate during vaginal delivery. |
See STI Atlas for images.
Diagnosis
Test | Site/Specimen | Consideration |
---|---|---|
Histology | Punch biopsy of lesion – formalin fixation (preferred specimen). Impression smear – glass slide pressed onto lesion, air dried. Sections and smears are Giemsa-stained. |
Low to moderate sensitivity but highly specific; requires experienced histopathologist as classic Donovan bodies may be sparse.
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NAAT |
Dry swab or punch biopsy of lesions.
|
Highly sensitive and specific but NAAT only available in research laboratories. |
NAAT – Nucelic Acid Amplification Test |
Specimen collection
Urethral swabs for microscopy should be collected when the patient has not urinated for at least 1 hour and only if the patient has frank urethral discharge. Squeeze the urethra to express the discharge and collect on urethral swab. It is not necessary to insert the swab into the urethra. Vaginal swab: instruct the patient to insert the swab into the vagina like a tampon and then remove and place into the transport tube. Rectal swab: instruct the patient to insert the swab into the anal canal 2-4cms and then remove and place into the transport tube. FPU (First pass urine): Collect approximately 20 ml (1/3 of the standard urine jar) of the first part of the urine stream in a specimen jar at the time you are consulting the patient. The patient does not need to have held their urine for more than 20 minutes prior to specimen collection. A midstream urine (MSU) or early morning specimen (i.e. first void urine) are not required for NAAT. Click here for information on how to describe self-collection technique to a patient.Clinician collected for NAAT/culture/microscopy
Rectal swabs should be collected by inserting a sterile swab 2-4cms into the anal canal and moving the swab gently side to side for 10-20 seconds.
Pharyngeal swabs should be collected from the tonsils and oropharynx.
High vaginal swab of vaginal discharge smeared onto a glass slide, air dried and sent for microscopy. Swab inserted into transport medium for culture.Self-collection of samples for NAAT testing
Investigations
Extra-genital disease should be considered in patients with current genital infection and in patients with a past history of donovanosis who present with unusual symptoms.
Management
Principal Treatment Options | ||
---|---|---|
Situation | Recommended | Alternative |
Ano-genital lesions |
Azithromycin 500mg PO, daily for 7 days |
Doxycycline 100mg PO, BD for a minimum of 4 weeks, until complete resolution of lesions. |
Treatment advice
- Azithromycin is highly effective and well tolerated.
- Adherence to treatment is essential to ensure cure. Consider directly-observed therapy. Presumptive treatment should be commenced on clinical grounds while waiting for diagnostic confirmation or if laboratory services are not available.
- Seek specialist advice.
Other immediate management
- Advise no sexual contact for 7 days after treatment is administered
- Advise no sex with partners from the last 6 months until the partners have been reviewed and treated if necessary
- Contact tracing
- Provide patient with factsheet
- Notify the state/territory health department.
Special treatment situations
Special considerations
- Consider seeking specialist advice before treating this rare condition in any complicated presentation.
- Neonates born to a mother with untreated donovanosis at time of delivery should be followed closely for the development of lesions.
- Patients may require hospital admission if compliance with treatment is poor or disseminated disease present.
- Many guidelines recommend treating with azithromycin until lesions have completely healed but there is no evidence that longer treatment is beneficial. Non-azithromycin regimens should be continued until complete resolution of lesions.
Situation | Recommended | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Complicated or disseminated infection | May require prolonged treatment. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pregnant women
For more information go to the Therapeutic Goods Association's Prescribing medicines in pregnancy database and/or seek specialist advice. ![]() |
Azithromycin is the recommended treatment. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Allergy to principal treatment choice |
See alternative treatment option above. |
Contact tracing
Contact tracing of sexual partners in last 6 months is recommended but yield is low.
See Australasian Contract Tracing Manual – Donovanosis for more information.
Follow up
Review in 1 week provides an opportunity to:
- Confirm patient adherence to treatment and assess for symptom resolution.
- Confirm contact tracing has been undertaken or offer more contact tracing support.
- Provide further sexual health education and prevention counselling.
Test of Cure (TOC)
- Relapse/re-infection occurs and patients should be reviewed at completion of treatment course and at 3 months.
- Recurrence of lesions may represent development of skin cancer in previous lesions and requires biopsy.
Retesting
Not required but provides the opportunity to retest, post the window period, for other STIs, if not undertaken at first presentation.
Auditable outcomes
100% of diagnoses are notified to the state/territory health department.