TY - JOUR
AU - Greene, Bruce, M.
AB - Abstract Onchocerca volvulus, a major filarial parasite of humans, infects tens of millions of people and is a leading cause of blindness. It also causes disabling or disfiguring dermatitis and lymph node involvement. The infection is transmittted by the bite of female black flies of Simulium species, which breed around freely flowing waterways. Vector control by aerial spraying of rivers and streams with larvicide has achieved some success in the Volta River Basin, but other areas are less well-suited for such an approach. Efforts to control onchocerciasis are plagued by emerging resistance of blackflies, excessive costs of spraying, and the lack of suitable chemotherapy for existing cases. Mass chemotherapy for infected persons as a means to limit the disease and its impact is not feasible because existing drug regimens are too complex, too toxic, or not effective enough. Selective chemotherapy directed at persons at high risk of complications may be a more effective means of minimizing the impact of the disease. This content is only available as a PDF. Author notes Supported in part by grants EY 03318 and AI 15351 from the National Institutes of Health. Suggestions and critical review of the manuscript by Drs. Adel Mahmoud and Hugh R. Taylor are gratefully acknowledged. This review is the sixth in a series edited by Julia A. Walsh and Kenneth S. Warren dealing with selective primary health care in the developing world. This series will be published in book form by University of Chicago Press after all of the reviews have appeared in Reviews of Infectious Diseases. Reprints will not be distributed by the authors. © 1983 by The University of Chicago
TI - Selective Primary Health Care: Strategies for Control of Disease in the Developing World. VI. Onchocerciasis
JF - Clinical Infectious Diseases
DO - 10.1093/clinids/5.4.781
DA - 1983-07-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/oxford-university-press/selective-primary-health-care-strategies-for-control-of-disease-in-the-ja92V1LPwk
SP - 781
EP - 789
VL - 5
IS - 4
DP - DeepDyve
ER -