High prevalence of epilepsy in onchocerciasis endemic regions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

ABSTRACT:

Background

An increased prevalence of epilepsy has been reported in many onchocerciasis endemic areas. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of epilepsy in onchocerciasis endemic areas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and investigate whether a higher annual intake of Ivermectin was associated with a lower prevalence of epilepsy.

Methodology/principle findings

Between July 2014 and February 2016, house-to-house epilepsy prevalence surveys were carried out in areas with a high level of onchocerciasis endemicity: 3 localities in the Bas-Uele, 24 in the Tshopo and 21 in the Ituri province. Ivermectin uptake was recorded for every household member. This database allowed a matched case-control pair subset to be created that enabled putative risk

SUBMITTER: Levick B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5529017 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature