Vieri Melissa Krizia, Mandro Michel, Cardellino Chiara Simona, Orza Pierantonio, Ronzoni Niccolò, Siewe Fodjo Joseph Nelson, Hotterbeekx An, Colebunders Robert
Global Health Institute, University of Antwerp, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium.
Division Provincial de la Santé, P.O. Box 57, Ituri, Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Pathogens. 2021 Mar 18;10(3):359. doi: 10.3390/pathogens10030359.
A high burden of epilepsy is observed in Africa where parasitological infections are endemic. In 2016, in an Onchocerciasis endemic area in the Logo health zone, in Ituri province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a door-to-door study showed an epilepsy prevalence of 4.6%, and 50.6% of persons with epilepsy were infected with . In the current study, the serum of 195 people infected with persons with epilepsy were tested to determine the proportion of co-infections with and . These proportions were, respectively, 8.2, 18.5 and 12.8%. Persons with a co-infection were older than those without co-infection ( = 0.021). In six (37.5%) of the co-infected persons, the first seizures appeared after the age of 30 years compared to three (2.1%) persons without a co-infection ( < 0.0001). Our study suggests that an infection is the main parasitic cause of epilepsy in the Ituri province, but in some persons, mainly in those with late onset epilepsy and with focal seizures, the epilepsy may be caused by neurocysticercosis. As the population in the area rears pigs, activities to limit transmission should be implemented.
在寄生虫感染流行的非洲，癫痫负担较重。2016年，在刚果民主共和国伊图里省洛戈健康区的盘尾丝虫病流行地区，一项挨家挨户的研究显示癫痫患病率为4.6%，50.6%的癫痫患者感染了[未明确寄生虫名称]。在当前研究中，对195名感染[未明确寄生虫名称]的癫痫患者的血清进行检测，以确定与[未明确寄生虫名称]和[未明确寄生虫名称]合并感染的比例。这些比例分别为8.2%、18.5%和12.8%。合并感染[未明确寄生虫名称]的患者比未合并感染的患者年龄更大（P = 0.021）。在6名（37.5%）合并感染[未明确寄生虫名称]的患者中，首次癫痫发作出现在30岁之后，而在未合并感染的患者中这一比例为3名（2.1%）（P < 0.0001）。我们的研究表明，[未明确寄生虫名称]感染是伊图里省癫痫的主要寄生虫病因，但在一些人中，主要是那些晚发性癫痫和局灶性癫痫患者，癫痫可能由神经囊尾蚴病引起。由于该地区人口养猪，应开展限制[未明确寄生虫名称]传播的活动。
