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Evidencia parasitológica, serológica, y clínica de la alta prevalencia de podoconiosis (elefantiasis no‐filariásica) en el distrito de Midakegn, Etiopía central
Author(s) -
Geshere Oli Geleta,
Tekola Ayele Fasil,
Petros Beyene
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3156.2012.02978.x
Subject(s) - elephantiasis , medicine , wuchereria bancrofti , serology , filariasis , microfilaria , surgery , dermatology , immunology , helminths , antibody
Objective To determine whether the elephantiasis in Midakegn district, central Ethiopia, is filarial or non‐filarial (podoconiosis) using serological, parasitological and clinical examinations, and to estimate its prevalence. Methods At house‐to‐house visits in 330 randomly selected households, all household members who had elephantiasis were interviewed and clinically examined at the nearby health centre to confirm the presence of elephantiasis, check the presence of scrotal swelling and rule out the other causes of lymphoedema. A midnight blood sample was obtained from each participant with elephantiasis for microscopic examination of Wuchereria bancrofti microfilaria. A daytime blood sample was obtained from half of the participants for serological confirmation using the immuno‐chromatographic test card. Results Consistent with the features of podoconiosis, none of the elephantiasis cases had consistently worn shoes since childhood; 94.3% had bilateral swelling limited below the level of the knees; no individual had thigh or scrotal elephantiasis; parasitological test for microfilariae and serological tests for W. bancrofti antigen were negative in all samples. The prevalence of the disease was 7.4% and it peaked in the third decade of life, the most economically active age. Conclusion Midakegn District has a high prevalence of podoconiosis and no filarial elephantiasis. Prevention, treatment and control of podoconiosis must be among the top priorities of public health programmes.