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Sube, Kenneth Lado, Lako, Joseph Daniel Wani, Tongun, Justin Bruno, Gerber, Tatjana, Mamur, Jurel Payii, Hamid Moto, Sekonjo Juliano, Jada, Stephen Raimon Legge, Siewe Fodjo, Joseph Nelson, Hopkins, Adrian Dennis, Mackenzie, Charles D and Colebunders, Robert (2024) 'The Spectrum of Ocular Diseases in the Onchocerciasis-Endemic Focus of Raga in South Sudan.'. Research and Reports in Tropical Medicine, Vol 15, pp. 111-121.
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RRTM-481554-the-spectrum-of-ocular-diseases-in-the-onchocerciasis-endemi.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial. Download (1MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Raga County is an onchocerciasis-endemic area in the Western Bahr El Ghazal state of South Sudan, known to have a high prevalence of blindness. The objective of this study was to determine the causes of eye disease and blindness in Raga County as well as to assess the relationship of eye diseases with other prevalent conditions like onchocerciasis and epilepsy. We reviewed unpublished pre-community directed treatment with ivermectin (CDTI) data about eye disease and onchocerciasis in Western Bahr El Ghazal including Raga. In addition, a cross-sectional study was conducted from 21 March to 2 April 2023 in 11 villages in Raga County. Participants were persons with blindness or other eye/vision problems, recruited via a community-based approach. Two senior ophthalmic clinical officers, supervised by an experienced ophthalmologist, performed the following assessments on participants: visual acuity measurement with Snellen Charts, anterior chamber examination with a loupe, and fundoscopy to assess the posterior segment with direct and indirect ophthalmoscopes. Pre-CDTI data showed that the most severe vision problems in villages with a high prevalence of infection were caused by onchocerciasis eye disease. During the 2023 survey, in total, 1559 persons (3,118 eyes) were examined (mean age: 47 ± 19.2 years, 58.4% male). The most frequent eye diagnosis was allergic conjunctivitis, observed in 1453 (46.6%) eyes of the participants. The main causes of blindness were onchocerciasis-related blindness (22.6%, caused by onchocerciasis chorioretinitis (9.4%), sclerosing keratitis, punctate keratitis (5.6%), and onchocerciasis optic neuropathy (7.6%)), and cataract (9.3%). A significantly higher proportion of persons with epilepsy presented with clinical signs of onchocerciasis including blindness (53.2%), compared to persons without epilepsy (32.5%) (p = 0.0007). Despite years of CDTI, the main causes of blindness in Raga County remain onchocerciasis-related blindness observed in 22.6% and cataract observed in 9.3% of the study participants. The study confirmed an epidemiological association between onchocerciasis and epilepsy.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 885 Onchocerciasis WW Ophthalmology > WW 20 Research (General) WW Ophthalmology > Manifestations of Disease. Poor Vision > WW 475 Eye manifestations of general disease |
| Faculty: Department: | Biological Sciences > Department of Tropical Disease Biology |
| Digital Object Identifer (DOI): | https://doi.org/10.2147/RRTM.S481554 |
| SWORD Depositor: | JISC Pubrouter |
| Depositing User: | JISC Pubrouter |
| Date Deposited: | 05 Feb 2025 14:49 |
| Last Modified: | 05 Feb 2025 14:49 |
| URI: | https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/25983 |
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