SynthesisThe Lancet. Global health2019
Mapping the global distribution of Buruli ulcer: a systematic review with evidence consensus.
Synthesis in The Lancet. Global health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 72 citations in OpenAlex.
- Transmission models of Mycobacterium ulcerans: A systematic review.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Pooled it
- Aberrant stromal tissue factor localisation and mycolactone-driven vascular dysfunction, exacerbated by IL-1β, are linked to fibrin formation in Buruli ulcer lesions.PLoS pathogens · 2022Trial
- Rifampicin and clarithromycin (extended release) versus rifampicin and streptomycin for limited Buruli ulcer lesions: a randomised, open-label, non-inferiority phase 3 trial.Lancet (London, England) · 2020Trial
- Biological, Environmental, and Social Determinants of Buruli Ulcer in Africa: Their Interplay Across Disease Severity and Patient Outcome.Public health challenges · 2026Review
- Human-induced pressures and environmental factors drive the distribution of neglected tropical disease Buruli ulcer.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- Spatiotemporal distribution ofEmerging microbes & infections · 2025Article
- Knowledge, attitude and practices of buruli ulcer among residents in Jasikan municipality of Ghana: an ethnographic study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Repurposing drugs to advance the treatment of Buruli ulcer.Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2025Article
- Buruli ulcer in Australia: Evidence for a new endemic focus at Batemans Bay, New South Wales.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- Confirming non-endemicity of podoconiosis in Guatemala and in Idukki District in Kerala (India): a comparison of two approaches potentially suitable for other neglected tropical diseases.BMC global and public health · 2024Article
- Buruli ulcer surveillance in south-eastern Australian possums: Infection status, lesion mapping and internal distribution of Mycobacterium ulcerans.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- Systematic review: Global host range, case fatality and detection rates ofJournal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases · 2024Review
- Nontuberculous mycobacterial infection in Wisconsin children and adolescents.Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases · 2024Article
- Clinical and microbiological predictors of healing in Buruli ulcer disease.Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases · 2024Article
- Policy and Executive Barriers in Preventing and Eradicating Neglected Tropical Diseases: A Systematic Review.International journal of preventive medicine · 2024Review
- Review
- Comprehensive Case-Control Study of Protective and Risk Factors for Buruli Ulcer, Southeastern Australia.Emerging infectious diseases · 2023Article
- Neglected tropical diseases in Republic of Guinea: disease endemicity, case burden and the road towards the 2030 target.International health · 2023Review
- Type-I interferons promote innate immune tolerance in macrophages exposed to Mycobacterium ulcerans vesicles.PLoS pathogens · 2023Article
- Perceived water-related risk factors of Buruli ulcer in two villages of south-central Côte d'Ivoire.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 6 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundBuruli ulcer can cause disfigurement and long-term loss of function. It is underdiagnosed and under-reported, and its current distribution is unclear. We aimed to synthesise and evaluate data on Buruli ulcer prevalence and distribution.
methodsWe did a systematic review of Buruli ulcer prevalence and used an evidence consensus framework to describe and evaluate evidence for Buruli ulcer distribution worldwide. We searched PubMed and Web of Science databases from inception to Aug 6, 2018, for records of Buruli ulcer and Mycobacterium ulcerans detection, with no limits on study type, publication date, participant population, or location. English, French, and Spanish language publications were included. We included population-based surveys presenting Buruli ulcer prevalence estimates, or data that allowed prevalence to be estimated, in the systematic review. We extracted geographical data on the occurrence of Buruli ulcer cases and M ulcerans detection from studies of any type for the evidence consensus framework; articles that did not report original data were excluded. For the main analysis, we extracted prevalence estimates from included surveys and calculated 95% CIs using Byar's method. We included occurrence records, reports to WHO and the Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Network, and surveillance data from Buruli ulcer control programmes in the evidence consensus framework to grade the strength of evidence for Buruli ulcer endemicity. This study is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42018116260.
findings2763 titles met the search criteria. We extracted prevalence estimates from ten studies and occurrence data from 208 studies and five unpublished surveillance datasets. Prevalence estimates within study areas ranged from 3·2 (95% CI 3·1-3·3) cases per 10 000 population in Côte d'Ivoire to 26·9 (23·5-30·7) cases per 10 000 population in Benin. There was evidence of Buruli ulcer in 32 countries and consensus on presence in 12.
interpretationThe global distribution of Buruli ulcer is uncertain and potentially wider than currently recognised. Our findings represent the strongest available evidence on Buruli ulcer distribution so far and have many potential applications, from directing surveillance activities to informing burden estimates.
fundingAIM Initiative.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.