title: Prevalence, intensity and ocular manifestations of Onchocerca volvulus infection in Dimbelenge, Zaire.
abstract: In the zone of Dimbelenge (West Kasai region), Zaire we studied the prevalence, intensity and ocular manifestations of Onchocerca volvulus infection. We used the cluster sampling method to draw a sample of 327 people from a total population of 17,870. The prevalence of microfilaria in skin snips was 82.1% in people 20 years of age and older. The Community Microfilarial Load was 3.5. Blindness in 12 of 13 adults (92.3%) was caused by onchocerciasis. The rate of onchocercal blindness in the adult population was 5.1%. Twenty-four percent of adults had retinal changes as a result of onchocercal infection.
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Brown
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Shannon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015023:Democratic Republic of the Congo; D005123:Eye / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008842:Microfilariae / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015827:Onchocerciasis, Ocular / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015995:Prevalence; D012867:Skin / Q000469:parasitology; D014792:Visual Acuity