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http://hdl.handle.net/1942/24037
Title: | High prevalence of epilepsy in onchocerciasis endemic regions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo | Authors: | Levick, Bethany Laudisoit, Anne Tepage, Floribert ENSOY-MUSORO, Chellafe Mandro, Michel Osoro, Caroline Bonareri Suykerbuyk, Patrick Kashama, Jean-Marie Komba, Michel Tagoto, Alliance Falay, Dadi Begon, Michael Colebunders, Robert |
Issue Date: | 2017 | Source: | PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 11(7), (Art N° e0005732) | Abstract: | An increased prevalence of epilepsy has been reported in many onchocerciasis endemic areas. Between July 2014 and February 2016, house-to-house epilepsy prevalence surveys were carried out in the Bas-Uele, Tshopo and Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in areas with a high level of onchocerciasis endemicity. Of 12, 408 people examined in the different health areas 407 (3.3%) were found to have a history of epilepsy. A nested case control analysis demonstrated that before the appearance of epilepsy, compared to the same life period in controls, persons with epilepsy were around two times less likely to have taken Ivermectin than controls. Our data suggests that Ivermectin protects against epilepsy in an onchocerciasis endemic region. However, a prospective population based intervention study is needed to confirm this. | Notes: | Colebunders, R (reprint author), Univ Antwerp, Global Hlth Inst, Antwerp, Belgium. robert.colebunders@uantwerpen.be | Document URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/1942/24037 | ISSN: | 1935-2735 | e-ISSN: | 1935-2735 | DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005732 | ISI #: | 000408057300044 | Rights: | Copyright: © 2017 Levick et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. | Category: | A1 | Type: | Journal Contribution | Validations: | ecoom 2018 |
Appears in Collections: | Research publications |
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