Chancroid in Nigeria.

The present paper records the incidence of chancroid in northern Nigeria. Out of 776 new patients registered at the Special Treatment Clinic (STC) of the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) Zaria during February to August 1982, 34 cases (4.38%) were diagnosed as chancroid. Direct smear examination for Haemophilus ducreyi was positive in 33 cases and bacterial bodies devoid of cell wall (probably L-forms of H. ducreyi) were demonstrated in one. Culture for H. ducreyi was positive in only three cases. All the patients responded to co-trimoxazole and tetracyclines.