Authors: Guderian, R. H.¹; Anselmi, M.²; Espinal, M.³; Mancero, T.¹; Rivadeneira, G.¹; Proaño, R.³; Calvopiña, H. M.¹; Vieira, J. C.³; Cooper, P. J.³

Source: Tropical Medicine & International Health, Volume 2, Number 10, October 1997 , pp. 982-988(7)

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Abstract:

Onchocerciasis is a major blinding disease in equatorial Africa and Central and South America. Ivermectin is a safe and effective drug in the treatment of this disease and now forms the basis of disease control in most endemic areas. We report the findings of long-term control of this infection in the Río Santiago focus in Ecuador, between January 1990 and December 1996, using a strategy of giving ivermectin treatments biannually in hyperendemic communities and annually in meso- and hypoendemic communities. Ivermectin was administered by local health workers from each community. A high level of compliance to ivermectin was achieved, with 81.9% to 98.0% of those eligible receiving the drug at each treatment instance. The impact of ivermectin therapy was monitored using a cohort of 120 randomly selected infected individuals from 8 hyperendemic communities. The geometric mean microfilarial density of this group declined from 19.3 to 0 mf/mg over the 84-month observation period. Ivermectin had a significant impact on anterior segment ocular disease, acute onchodermatitis and sowda. The rate of infection of blackflies declined from 1.1% in 1989-0.08% in 1996, which is below the vectorial capacity of the Simulium vector and, as no new nodules were detected after 1994 and no children under 5 became infected over the observation period, it is likely that the transmission of this infection was interrupted in the study area.

Keywords: Onchocerca volvulus; ivermectin; community-based control; PCR

Document Type: Original article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3156.1997.d01-158.x

Affiliations: 1: National Onchocerciasis Control Programme, Ministerio de Salud Publica, Quito, Ecuador, 2: Centro de Epidemiología Comunitaria y Medicina Tropical, Vicariato Apostólico de Esmeraldas, Esmeraldas, Ecuador 3: Onchocerciasis Project, Department of Clinical Investigations, Hospital Vozandes, Quito, Ecuador,

Publication date: 1997-10-01

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