Abstract

HIERRO GONZALEZ, Alfredo; HANO GARCIA, Olga Marina  and  GONZALEZ FABIAN, Licet. Clinical, epidemiological and microbiological behavior of filariases in the population of Mouila, Gabon. Rev Cubana Med Trop [online]. 2013, vol.65, n.3, pp.309-319. ISSN 0375-0760.

Introduction: filariae are nematodes from the family Filariidae. There are about 200 parasitic filariae, but only a few infect humans. Objectives: make a brief description of these parasitic diseases which may serve as guidance to the large number of Cuban cooperation doctors in African countries, where this condition is particularly common, and describe the behavior of filarial infections in patients cared for at Mouila Regional Hospital in Gabon. Methods: a cross-sectional observational descriptive study was conducted of 87 patients of both sexes aged 15 and over with confirmed filariasis. Results: it was found that 3.7 % of patients had some kind of filariasis: 93.1 % due to Loa loa, 5.7 % due to Mansonella perstans and 1.1 % due to coinfection by both. Females and persons over 65 were the most affected groups. The most common symptom was pruritus (59.8 %), followed by polyarthralgia, lumbar pain and asthenia. Eosinophilia was present in 100% of subjects, and anemia was more frequent in patients infected with Mansonella perstans. Infection intensity was low in both filariases. The response was satisfactory in 86.1 % of the patients treated with diethylcarbamazine and 82.4 % of those treated with ivermectin. Conclusions: Loa loa was predominant mainly among women. Pruritus, anemia and eosinophilia were the main manifestations. Treatment with ivermectin was found to be effective.

Keywords : filariasis; Loa loa; Mansonella perstans.

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