Most noma sufferers are under six years of age.
The survivors are disfigured for life, and in most cases the physical damage is such that they will never be able to speak, eat and breath normally. The sufferers are often rejected by their community, as they are the living proof of an evil curse on the family and the village. The disease was not uncommon in Europe and North America in the 18th and 19th century. It disappeared from these continents with social and economic development. Nowadays it is an added scourge on the poorest communities of the world.