| Autor: |
Fouamno Kamga, Henri Lucien, Nsagha, Dickson Shey, Nguedia Assob, Jules Clement, Longdoh Njunda, Anna, Fon, Peter Nde, Kindong Njem, Peter |
| Zdroj: |
Pan African Medical Journal; 2011, Vol. 10, p1-6, 6p |
| Abstrakt: |
Introduction: Onchocerciasis is one of the leading infectious causes of blindness affecting over 37 million people of which 99% are in Africa. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of onchocerciasis in the Fundong Health District, a locality where community-directed treatment with ivermectin has been carried out for 6 consecutive years. Methods: Questionnaires covering participants' identity, Rapid Epidemiological Assessment (REA) for onchocerciasis and parasitological parameters were distributed to participants. Skin snip (SS) was collected for laboratory investigation. Results: A total of 404 participants belonging to 200 households were randomly selected from the Fundong Health District, of which 134 (33.2%) were males and 270(66.8%) were females, 14 (3.5%) had microfilaredermia and 15(3.7%) had nodules. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of microfilaredermia with respect to age of participants (X² =2.749, P=0.601). There was however a statistically significant difference in the prevalence of nodule and impaired vision/eye itching (IVIE) with respect to age (X² =24.67, P<0.001). The greatest rate of infection was found among farmers (2.5%) followed by students (0.7%) and businessmen (0.25%). Conclusion: This study shows that the study area is now hypo-endemic for onchocerciasis, following 6 years of continuous treatment with ivermectin. Careful monitoring of onchocerciasis should however be continued to avoid that the area returns to its initial hyper endemicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Databáze: |
Complementary Index |
| Externí odkaz: |
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