Nikiema, AS, Koala, L, Sondo, AK, Post, RJ, Pare, AB, Kafando, CM, Kambire, RS, Sow, B, Bougouma, C, Dabire, RK and Traore, S (2021) The impact of ivermectin on onchocerciasis in villages co-endemic for lymphatic filariasis in an area of onchocerciasis recrudescence in Burkina Faso. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 15 (3). ISSN 1935-2727

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Abstract

In Burkina Faso, onchocerciasis was no longer a public health problem when the WHO Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa closed at the end in 2002. However, epi-demiological surveillance carried out from November 2010 to February of 2011, showed a recrudescence of infection in the Cascades Region. This finding was made at a time when ivermectin, a drug recommended for the treatment of both onchocerciasis and lymphatic fila-riasis, had been distributed in this area since 2004 for the elimination of lymphatic filariasis. It was surprising that ivermectin distributed for treating lymphatic filariasis had not prevented the recrudescence of onchocerciasis. Faced with this situation, the aim of our study was to evaluate the effectiveness of ivermectin on the onchocerciasis parasite. The percentage reduction in microfilarial load after treatment with ivermectin was used as a proxy measure for assessing possible resistance. A cohort study was carried out with 130 individuals who had tested positive for microfilariae of Onchocerca volvulus in 2010 using microscopic examination of skin-snip biopsies from five endemic villages. Subjects were followed from July 2011 to June 2012. The microfilarial load of each individual was enumerated by skin-snip biopsy in 2010, prior to the first ivermectin treatment against onchocerciasis under community guidelines. All individuals received two ivermectin treatments six months apart. In 2012, the microfilarial loads were determined again, six months after the second round of ivermectin and the reductions in parasite loads were calculated to measure the impact of the drug. The percentage reduction of the microfilarial loads ranged from 87% to 98% in the vil-lages. In all villages, there was a statistically significant difference between the average microfilarial loads in 2010 and 2012. The level of reduction of microfilarial loads suggests that ivermectin is effective against the recrudescent population of O. volvulus in Cascades Region of Burkina Faso. Further investigations would be necessary to determine the causes of the recrudescence of onchocerciasis. (For French language abstract, see S1 Alternative Language Abstract—Translation of the Abstract into French by the authors.).

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Infectious Diseases; Parasitology; Tropical Medicine; Animals; Humans; Onchocerca volvulus; Onchocerciasis; Recurrence; Ivermectin; Antiparasitic Agents; Parasitic Sensitivity Tests; Drug Resistance; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Middle Aged; Child; Child, Preschool; Burkina Faso; Female; Male; Young Adult; Parasite Load; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Animals; Antiparasitic Agents; Burkina Faso; Child; Child, Preschool; Drug Resistance; Female; Humans; Ivermectin; Male; Middle Aged; Onchocerca volvulus; Onchocerciasis; Parasite Load; Parasitic Sensitivity Tests; Recurrence; Young Adult; 06 Biological Sciences; 11 Medical and Health Sciences; Tropical Medicine
Subjects:	Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Divisions:	Biological & Environmental Sciences (from Sep 19)
Publisher:	Public Library of Science
SWORD Depositor:	A Symplectic
Date Deposited:	13 Jun 2022 10:59
Last Modified:	13 Jun 2022 11:00
DOI or ID number:	10.1371/journal.pntd.0009117
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/17057

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