title: Portable ultrasound scanner versus serology in screening for hydatid cysts in a nomadic population.
abstract: 3553 nomads in Turkana, a remote area of north-west Kenya, were screened for hydatid cysts by a portable ultrasound scanner and by serology. 198 (5.6%) proved to have liver or upper abdominal cysts. In the group screened by both techniques (2644) 174 (6.6%) cases of hydatidosis were detected by ultrasonography and 76 (2.9%) by serology. Ultrasonography gave immediate results and was less expensive and more acceptable and educationally valuable to the people. This non-invasive rapid technique also provided important clinical information about the cysts. The prevalence data thus obtained will contribute to the surveillance of a hydatid control programme.
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004443:Echinococcosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D004444:Echinococcosis, Hepatic / Q000175:diagnosis; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007630:Kenya; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012737:Sex Factors; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods