Subject(s)
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome/etiology , Chorioretinitis/etiology , Dermatitis/etiology , Emigration and Immigration , Filariasis/complications , Pruritus/etiology , Travel , Adult , Africa , Aged , Cohort Studies , Female , Filariasis/diagnosis , Filariasis/physiopathology , France , Humans , Loiasis/complications , Loiasis/diagnosis , Loiasis/physiopathology , Male , Mansonelliasis/complications , Mansonelliasis/diagnosis , Mansonelliasis/physiopathology , Middle Aged , Onchocerciasis/complications , Onchocerciasis/diagnosis , Onchocerciasis/physiopathology , Retrospective Studies , Young AdultABSTRACT
Filarial parasites infect an estimated 140 million people worldwide. Wuchereria bancrofti, Onchocerca volvulus, Loa loa and Mansonella perstans are responsible for most filarial infections in sub-Saharan Africa. We describe the prevalence and the clinical characteristics of filariasis in symptomatic patients in Goundi Sanitary district:167 patients were enrolled (99 men, 68 women). M. perstans microfilariae were isolated in peripheral blood in 164 cases, while Loa loa and Wuchereria bancrofti filariasis were diagnosed in only six and three cases, respectively. The most frequent filariasis observed in our study were due to M. perstans and L. loa, while the few cases of W. bancrofti filariasis seem to have been acquired abroad. No cases of O. volvulus were observed. Microfilarial burden was not related to symptoms, but a correlation between eosinophilia and pruritus was evident. No relationship was observed between eosinophils and symptoms. The prevalence observed in symptomatic patients could reflect the real prevalence of filariasis.
Subject(s)
Filariasis , Loa/isolation & purification , Mansonella/isolation & purification , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Animals , Chad/epidemiology , Child , Female , Filariasis/epidemiology , Filariasis/parasitology , Filariasis/physiopathology , Humans , Loiasis/epidemiology , Loiasis/parasitology , Loiasis/physiopathology , Male , Mansonelliasis/epidemiology , Mansonelliasis/parasitology , Mansonelliasis/physiopathology , Middle Aged , PrevalenceABSTRACT
Several authors have described a particular potential of automated depolarization analysis in detecting malaria infection as part of the routine full blood count (FBC) performed by the Cell-Dyn 4000 analyzer. In these cases, abnormal depolarizing patterns are due to the presence of leukocyte-associated malaria hemozoin, a pigment which depolarizes the laser light. In this report we describe samples from three individual patients who did not have malaria infection but showed abnormal depolarizing events. Further investigation determined that these samples were from patients infected by the nematode Mansonella perstans. The observed depolarizing pattern consisted of a normal depolarizing eosinophil population and in addition an abnormal depolarizing population that showed a close "linear" relationship between "granularity" (90 degrees depolarization) and "lobularity" (90 degrees polarization). This atypical population was smaller than normal leukocytes and thus clearly different from the patterns associated with malaria infection. Abnormal depolarization patterns of M. perstans clearly do not reflect leukocyte-associated malaria hemozoin. It is possible however that the erythrocyte-lysing agent used to facilitate leukocyte analysis by the instrument may have caused microfilaria fragmentation and thus the distinctive "straight-line" features of the abnormal scatter plots
