Kamga Henri Lucien Fouamno, Shey Dickson Nsagha, Assob Jules Clement Nguedia, Njunda Anna Longdoh, Nde Fon Peter, Njem Peter Kindong
Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Buea, Cameroon.
Pan Afr Med J. 2011;10:34. Epub 2011 Nov 10.
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.
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.
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 (X(2)=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 (X(2)=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%).
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.
盘尾丝虫病是导致失明的主要传染病之一，影响着超过3700万人，其中99%在非洲。本研究的目的是确定丰东卫生区盘尾丝虫病的患病率，该地区已连续6年开展伊维菌素社区定向治疗。
向参与者发放涵盖其身份、盘尾丝虫病快速流行病学评估（REA）和寄生虫学参数的问卷。采集皮肤切片（SS）进行实验室检查。
从丰东卫生区随机选取了属于200户家庭的404名参与者，其中男性134名（33.2%），女性270名（66.8%），14名（3.5%）有微丝蚴血症，15名（3.7%）有结节。微丝蚴血症患病率在参与者年龄方面无显著差异（X(2)=2.749，P=0.601）。然而，结节患病率以及视力受损/眼部瘙痒（IVIE）在年龄方面存在统计学显著差异（X(2)=24.67，P<0.001）。感染率最高的是农民（2.5%），其次是学生（0.7%）和商人（0.25%）。
本研究表明，经过6年伊维菌素持续治疗，该研究区域目前盘尾丝虫病呈低度流行。然而，仍应继续仔细监测盘尾丝虫病，以避免该地区恢复到最初的高度流行状态。
