A deadly disease so neglected it's not even on the list of neglected tropical diseases

It started out as malaria – or at least that's what her grandparents thought. But there was another devious infection lurking beneath the surface of her skin and inside her mouth.

Mulikat Okanlawon was a child, only 6 or 7 years old, when she contracted noma – a rare gangrenous infection that ate away at the flesh and bone in her face.

Compared to others who get noma, Mulikat was lucky. It almost always leads to death.

Those who survive are left with substantial facial disfiguration that requires repeated reconstructive plastic surgery to repair. That's why some global health workers call noma the "face of poverty."

The name noma comes from the Greek word "nomē" meaning "to devour" and despite cases of noma being recorded over 1,000 years ago, in the 21st century we still don't know a lot about it.

Researchers do know that noma primarily affects children between the ages of 2 to 6 in regions of extreme poverty, like parts of Africa and Asia, but it's unclear why children are more at risk.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/04/01/1165485844/a-deadly-disease-so-neglected-its-not-even-on-the-list-of-neglected-tropical-dis