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

ABSTRACT:

Background

A high prevalence of epilepsy has been observed in many onchocerciasis endemic regions. This study is to estimate the prevalence of active epilepsy and exposure to Onchocerca volvulus infection in a rural population in Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Methods

In August 2016, a community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in an onchocerciasis endemic area in the rural health zone of Logo, Ituri Province. Households within two neighbouring health areas were randomly sampled. To identify persons with epilepsy, a three-stage approach was used. In the first stage, all individuals of the selected households were screened for epilepsy by non-medical field workers using a validated 5-item questionnaire. In the second and third stage, suspected cases of

SUBMITTER: Lenaerts E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6069757 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature