Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-27gpq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T14:01:14.542Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Community control of Ascaris lumbricoides in rural Oyo State, Nigeria: mass, targeted and selective treatment with levamisole

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

S. O. Asaolu
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
C. V. Holland
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland
D. W. T. Crompton
Affiliation:
WHO Collaborating Centre for Ascariasis, Department of Zoology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland

Abstract

A study to compare effects of mass, targeted and selective chemotherapy with levamisole (Ketrax) as an action for the control of Ascaris lumbricoides was carried out in three communities in rural Oyo State, Nigeria. Selective treatment was applied in one village by treating the most heavily infected 20% of the inhabitants, targeted treatment in the second village involved children aged 2–15 years, while mass treatment was offered to all inhabitants excluding infants under 1 year and pregnant women in the third village. Recommended doses of levamisole were given in the villages, as described above, at 3-monthly intervals during a period of 1 year. Prevalence and intensity (epg) of A. lumbricoides infection were determined immediately before and 3 months after the period of intervention using a modified Kato-Katz technique. In the selective treatment village, no significant differences were found between the pre- and post-treatment egg counts (mean(±S.D.) epg 6776±10791 versus 4259±10909 respectively) of A. lumbricoides in the total population. In the targeted treatment village, significant differences were recorded in pre- and post-treatment egg counts for the total population (9057 ± 15 797 versus 2579±6529) among the children alone (10935±20094 versus 992±3175) and among the untreated adults (7742±9782 versus 4561±8798). In the mass treatment village, significant differences in pre- and post-treatment egg count values were also recorded (11 907±17220 versus 1489±5165). The intensity of Trichuris trichiura and hookworm infections among the villagers before and after intervention were not observed to have changed significantly regardless of selective, targeted or mass treatment.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, R. M. (1986). The population dynamics and epidemiology of intestinal nematode infections. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 80, 686–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anderson, R. M. (1989). Transmission dynamics of Ascaris lumbricoides and the impact of chemotherapy. In Ascariasis and its Prevention and Control (ed. Crompton, D. W. T., Nesheim, M. C. & Pawlowski, Z. S.), pp. 253273. London and Philadelphia: Taylor and Francis.Google Scholar
Anderson, R. M. & Medley, G. F. (1985). Community control of helminth infections of man by mass and selective chemotherapy. Parasitology 90, 629–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bundy, D. A. P., Wong, M. S., Lewis, L. L. & Horton, J. (1990). Control of geohelminths by delivery of targeted chemotherapy through schools. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 84, 115–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crompton, D. W. T. (1989). Prevalence of ascariasis. In Ascariasis and its Prevention and Control (ed. Crompton, D. W. T., Nesheim, M. C. & Pawlowski, Z. S.), pp. 4569. London and Philadelphia: Taylor and Francis.Google Scholar
Davis, A. (1985). Ascariasis: drugs and drug policy. In Ascariasis and its Public Health Significance (ed. Crompton, D. W. T., Nesheim, M. C. & Pawlowski, Z. S.), pp. 239244. London and Philadelphia: Taylor and Francis.Google Scholar
Elkins, D. B., Haswell-Elkins, M. & Anderson, R. M. (1986). The epidemiology and control of intestinal helminths in the Pulicat region of Southern India. I. Study design and pre-and post-treatment observations on Ascaris lumbricoides infection. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 80, 774–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haswell-Elkins, M., Elkins, D. & Anderson, R. M. (1989). The influence of individual, social group and household factors on the distribution of Ascaris lumbricoides within a community and implications for control strategies. Parasitology 98, 125–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holland, C. V. & Asaolu, S. O. (1990). Ascariasis in Nigeria. Parasitology Today 6, 143–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keymer, A. E. & Pagal, M. (1990). Predisposition to helminth infection. In Hookworm Disease: Current Status and New Directions, (ed. Schad, G. A. & Warren, K. S.), pp. 177209. London and Philadelphia: Taylor and Francis.Google Scholar
Nwosu, A. B. C. (1983). The human environment and helminth infections: a biomedical study of four Nigerian villages. In Human Ecology and Infectious Diseases (ed. Croll, N. A. & Cross, J. H.), pp. 225252. New York: Academic Press Inc.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oduntan, S. O. (1974). The health of Nigerian children of school age (6–15 years). II. Parasitic and infective conditions, the special senses, physical abnormalities. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 68, 145–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oyerinde, J. P. O. (1978). Human Ancylostoma infections in Nigeria. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 72, 363–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seo, B. S. & Chai, J. Y. (1979). Frequency distribution of Ascaris lumbricoides in rural Koreans with special relevance to the effect of changing endemicity. Korean Journal of Parasitology 17, 105–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seo, B. S., Cho, S. Y., Chai, J. Y. & Mong, S. T. (1980). Comparative efficacy of various interval mass treatment of Ascaris lumbricoides infection in Korea. Korean Journal of Parasitology 18, 145–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stephenson, L. S. (1987). Impact of Helminth Infection on Human Nutrition. London and Philadelphia: Taylor and Francis.Google Scholar
Stephenson, L. S., Latham, M. C. & Oduori, M. L. (1980). Costs, prevalence and approaches to control of ascariasis in Kenya. Journal of Tropical Pediatrics 26, 247–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taren, D. L. & Crompton, D. W. T. (1989). Nutritional interactions during parasitism. Clinical Nutrition 8, 227–38.Google Scholar
Walsh, J. A. & Warren, K. S. (1979). Selective primary care. New England Journal of Medicine 301, 967–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (1985). Diagnostic techniques for intestinal parasitic infections (IPI) applicable to primary health care (PHC) services. WHO/P.D.P./85.2, 1211. Geneva.Google Scholar
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (1987). Prevention and control of intestinal parasitic infections. WHO Technical Report Series No. 794. Geneva.Google Scholar
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (1990). The use of essential drugs. WHO Technical Report Series No. 796. Geneva.Google Scholar
Yokogawa, M. (1985). JOICFP's experience in the control of ascariasis within an integrated programme. In Ascariasis and its Public Health Significance (ed. Crompton, D. W. T., Nesheim, M. C. & Pawlowski, Z. S.), pp. 265278. London and Philadelphia: Taylor and Francis.Google Scholar