| Popis: |
There have, in the past 20 years, been a number of reports and reviews on immune complex (IC) nephropathy associated with various parasitic infections in the tropics. Although these may be important, nephritis in tropical countries is not exclusively caused by a parasitic etiology. The range of etiologic factors in IC nephropathy established in temperate regions also obtains in the tropics in addition to parasites. Admissions data indicate that the frequency of IC nephropathy is over ten times greater in tropical than in temperate regions (Kibukamusoke, 1966; Ngu, 1969). It has been estimated that in some parts of Africa the hospital admission rate of patients with the nephrotic syndrome is 100 times higher than that in the United States (Lancet, 1980). This high prevalence in the tropics can be accounted for, at least in part, by the range of common parasite induced IC diseases superimposed on the other antigen-antibody (Ab-Ag) systems known to cause renal damage elsewhere. |
