Impact of 19 years of mass drug administration with ivermectin on epilepsy burden in a hyperendemic onchocerciasis area in Cameroon

摘要

BackgroundSurveys conducted in 1991–1992 in the Mbam Valley (Cameroon) revealed that onchocerciasis was highly endemic, with community microfilarial loads (CMFL) > 100 microfilariae/snip in some villages. Also in 1991–1992, a survey of suspected cases of epilepsy (SCE) found 746 SCE using a questionnaire administered to individuals identified by key informants, with prevalences reaching 13.6% in some communities. From 1998, annual community-directed treatment with ivermectin (CDTI) was implemented to control onchocerciasis. In 2017, a door-to-door household survey was conducted in three of the villages visited in 1991–1992, using a standardized 5-item epilepsy screening questionnaire.