The chemotherapy of onchocerciasis II. Quantitation of the clinical reaction to microfilaricides.

A method of quantitation of the clinical reaction to microfilaricides has been devised at the Onchocerciasis Chemotherapeutic Research Centre at Tamale, in the savanna area of Northern Ghana. The method employs commonly occurring reactions--pruritus, rash, glandular reactions, musculoskeletal, febrile and cardiovascular--and a scoring system with a built-in weighting factor. Although the method is time-consuming and requires close, continuous observation of patients, it should permit more specific statements to be made about the severity of clinical reactions in individual patients or in groups of patients taking similar or different doses of the same drug or taking different drugs of the same drug or taking different drugs on a comparative basis. It is recommended that quantitative methods of the clinical reaction to microfilaricides form a basic part of the assessment of any drug used in the control of onchocerciasis.