Human Onchocerciasis among Children and Teenagers in Rural Nigerian Farm Settlement

Abstract

This study investigated the prevalence of onchocerciasis among children and teenagers (1-15 years of age) in Adani - Enugu state, Nigeria. Rapid Assessment Method (RAM) was used during the study. Among 210 subjects examined, 66 (31.4%) were shown to be positive. Occurrence of the symptoms showed that onchocerca skin disease had 21.4%, onchocercoma, 8.6% and leopard skin, 1.4% respectively. Age was shown to be a major determinant for onchocerciasis prevalence, as 13-15 years age group had the highest percentage of occurrence (41.0%) while the 1-3 years age bracket had the least occurrence (16.7%). This demonstrates the cumulative nature of the disease which occurs with advance in age. There was no significant difference between the male (45.5%) and female (35.3%) infections (P>0.05). The frequency of Onchocerca Skin Deisease (OSD) studied revealed that acute papular onchodermatitis (APOD) appeared most among the children (71.7%) while depigmentation (DPM) had the least occurrence (4.4%). Nodules location and leopard skin were also investigated among the subjects. However, none of the candidates showed sign of visual impairment or blindness.