Reproductive status of Onchocerca volvulus after ivermectin treatment in an ivermectin-naive and a frequently treated population from Cameroon.

ABSTRACT:

Background

For two decades, onchocerciasis control has been based on mass treatment with ivermectin (IVM), repeated annually or six-monthly. This drug kills Onchocerca volvulus microfilariae (mf) present in the skin and the eyes (microfilaricidal effect) and prevents for 3-4 months the release of new mf by adult female worms (embryostatic effect). In some Ghanaian communities, the long-term use of IVM was associated with a more rapid than expected skin repopulation by mf after treatment. Here, we assessed whether the embryostatic effect of IVM on O. volvulus has been altered following frequent treatment in Cameroonian patients.

Methodology

Onchocercal nodules were surgically removed just before (D0) and 80 days (D80) after a standard dose of IVM in two cohorts with different

SUBMITTER: Nana-Djeunga HC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3998936 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature