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Query: UMLS:C0033774 (pruritus)
 14,546 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

It is not clear what role immediate hypersensitivity immune responses have in the pathogenesis of human onchocerciasis, but it is certain that these responses are prominent both in the course of natural infection and during the Mazzotti reactions that follow treatment with diethylcarbamazine. In humans, the levels of total serum IgE associated with onchocerciasis are as high or higher than those associated with almost any helminth infection, although specific IgE antibodies to Onchocerca volvulus appear to be a small and still poorly characterized fraction of the total serum IgE. Evidence about the relationship of these prominent IgE responses in patients with onchocerciasis to the onchocercal skin disease that manifests as pruritus and papular eruptions is conflicting, but in a guinea pig model of ocular pathology induced by onchocerca microfilariae evidence for the pathogenetic importance of IgE and immediate hypersensitivity is much less equivocal. The suggestive findings from this model make it imperative to carry out similar studies of Onchocerca-affected human eyes to determine whether immediate hypersensitivity responses play a similar critical role in the pathogenesis of the ocular lesions in humans.
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PMID:Immediate hypersensitivity responses in the immunopathogenesis of human onchocerciasis. 407 Sep 17

The first two cases of onchocerciasis seen in Canada are reported. The patients had come from West Africa to study in Canada several months prior to admission to hospital. The presenting symptom in each case was intense pruritus. One of the patients had early ocular involvement. The diagnosis was made by means of microscopic examination of a skin snip. The subcutaneous nodule excised from one of the patients showed the adult Onchocerca volvulus. Both patients also had urinary schistosomiasis. The clinical features, laboratory findings, treatment and public health aspects of onchocerciasis are discussed.
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PMID:Onchocerciasis in Canada. 481 12

Initial clinical studies in 32 Senegalese subjects have demonstrated the efficacy of ivermectin in Onchocerca volvulus infection (river blindness). Although O. volvulus microfilariae in skin snips were not reduced in number after single oral doses of 5 micrograms or 10 micrograms/kg body-weight, they were greatly reduced in all subjects after single oral doses of 30 micrograms or 50 micrograms/kg and were eliminated completely in 6 of th 8 subjects who received the 50 micrograms/kg dose. All subjects tolerated the drug well. Transient pruritus which did not require treatment was observed on the day the dose was given in 2 of the 8 subjects after the 30 micrograms/kg dose and in 4 of the 8 who received the 50 micrograms/kg dose. Ivermectin produced no abnormal laboratory results.
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PMID:Efficacy and tolerance of ivermectin in human onchocerciasis. 612 84

Between January and December 1981, parasitological and symptomatological methods of diagnosis were used to survey the prevalence of onchocerciasis among the human population in the Manor area of the Benue State of Nigeria. Hospital records of different health establishment all over the state were also examined to assess the status of the disease in the state. 911 or 69.8% of the 1306 persons examined were positive for microfilariae of Onchocerca volvulus; 135 or 10.3% had visual impairment including total blindness; 377 or 28.7% carried nodules with greater number of nodules found on the lower part, especially on the pelvis, than the upper part of the body. Skin conditions such as intense itching, depigmentation, lichenification and atrophy were regularly found in infected persons. Generally, the incidence was higher in males than females and there was always increased severity with advancing age. Hospital records also show that the infection is widespread in the state. The status of the disease in Manor is discussed and it is concluded that the area is hyperendemic for human onchocerciasis.
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PMID:Onchocerciasis in the Benue State of Nigeria. IV. The prevalence of the disease among the population in Manor. 664 7

A 15-year-old boy with onchocerciasis had severe generalized pruritus of five months' duration. He had been born and raised in Ethiopia and had emigrated to Israel one year earlier. A biopsy specimen of an area of depigmentation on the right thigh disclosed microfilaria of Onchocerca volvulus in the dermis. The discovery of an unusual disease in a nonendemic area is an example of the increased complexity of differential diagnosis resulting from the ease of travel from one geographic region to another.
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PMID:Onchocerciasis in Israel. 670 55

Diethylcarbamazine (DEC) administered orally to jirds and striped mice (300 mg/kg for five days) was effective against the microfilariae of Monanema globulosa in experimental infections. Based on the small numbers of animals used in this trial, it is questionable whether the drug had significant activity against the adult worms in pulmonary arteries. Densities of microfilariae in the ears (mf/mg) fell by 80-100% of pretreatment levels over a four week period following treatment. There was no apparent action of the developing embryos in utero, and in some rodents densities of microfilariae in the skin returned to 73-88% of pretreatment levels within 70 days. No microfilariae were detected in the blood or urine during treatment. Twenty-four hours after the first dose of DEC, many of the microfilariae in the dermis became surrounded by a local infiltration of neutrophils, eosinophils and histiocytes. Cellular reactions were accompanied by an acute pruritus in rodents, as indicated by scratching and distress exhibited soon after treatment: No reactions to microfilariae were seen in untreated rodents. Similarities between this response and the Mazzotti reaction induced by DEC in human onchocerciasis indicate that M. globulosa may be of value as a rodent model to study adverse drug reactions in Onchocerca volvulus infections.
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PMID:The action of diethylcarbamazine on the skin-dwelling microfilariae of Monanema globulosa (Nematoda: Filarioidea) in rodents. 671 Jun 1

Diethylcarbamazine (DEC) therapy for Onchocerca volvulus infection results in frequent ocular and systemic complications, but the pathogenesis of these complications is unclear. Twenty men with O. volvulus infection were treated over a period of six months with DEC given daily for one week and weekly thereafter. Major systemic and ocular complications included proteinuria, severe pruritus, visual field constriction, optic nerve pallor, chorioretinitis, anterior uveitis, and punctate keratitis. Levels of circulating immune complexes (CICs) were increased (greater than 11% [125I]C1q binding) in 14 of the 20 men prior to treatment. Persons with pretreatment C1q binding activity of greater than 30% were at increased risk to develop constriction of visual fields (P less than 0.05) and proteinuria (P less than 0.015). Linear regression analysis revealed a striking correlation between pretreatment levels of CICs and the total number of both systemic and ocular complications (P less than 0.001) and ocular complications alone (P less than 0.005). These results suggest that CICs may be important in the pathogenesis of the delayed systemic and ocular complications following DEC therapy for O. volvulus infection.
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PMID:Ocular and systemic complications of diethylcarbamazine therapy for onchocerciasis: association with circulating immune complexes. 684 23

Potential diagnostic indicators of onchocerciasis (subcutaneous nodules, depigmentation or leopard skin, microfilaruria, diethylcarbamazine patch test positivity, excoriations, and pruritus) were evaluated in a rain forest region of southern Cameroon for usefulness in rapid assessment of onchocerciasis endemicity in communities. Thirty-two study villages were selected, representing high, intermediate, and low prevalence levels, and 846 adult male residents of these communities 20 or more years of age were examined according to a defined protocol. Skin snips (from each iliac crest) served as the reference standard. Skin snip positivity was 75.5%; the effect of age was minimal. Leopard skin and nodules showed the strongest correlation with both the skin snip prevalence and community microfilarial load, as reflected by the adult male study population. We selected > or = 20% nodules or > or = 20% leopard skin as the most appropriate local criteria for assigning a community to high priority for control, which corresponds to a > or = 90% skin snip prevalence in adult males. While this criteria should not be applied to regions with savannah onchocerciasis, we believe the methodology can and should be used to determine appropriate diagnostic indicators for rapid assessment of Onchocerca volvulus endemicity in regions with different dynamics of transmission and clinical expression of disease.
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PMID:Evaluation of alternate methods of rapid assessment of endemicity of Onchocerca volvulus in communities in southern Cameroon. 757 5

Onchocerciasis is a systemic disease caused by the filarial parasite Onchocerca volvulus. It is endemic in Central Africa and South America and causes blindness which is directly related to the severity of the infection. World-wide, there are about 18 million suffering from onchocerciasis, of whom 2 million are blind. The most common symptom is pruritus, which appears early in the disease. Ocular manifestations appear later, and when present, life expectancy is less than 10 years. We present a 31-year-old male Ethiopian immigrant with this disease, which was brought to Israel with the Ethiopian immigration of the past decade. In this population can be found the various manifestations of the disease in all its stages. Patients are treated with oral Ivermectin, once a year, the safest of known medications for this disease. The need for early detection and treatment is emphasized because of the potential for ocular destruction.
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PMID:[Ocular onchocerciasis in Israel]. 772 Nov 79

The endemicity of human onchocerciasis was assessed in eight rural, at-risk communities in Ningi Local Government Area, Bauchi State, Nigeria, between July 1990 and March 1991. Of the 1536 subjects skin-snipped, 334 (21.7%) were positive for Onchocerca volvulus microfilariae. Surprisingly, there was a significant inverse relationship between prevalence and mean microfilarial load (r = -0.608; P < 0.05). Males were more likely to be infected than females (P < 0.01) and cattle rearers (71.0% infected), farmers (49.8%) and fishermen (40.0%) had significantly higher prevalences than students/schoolchildren, housewives or traders (P < 0.001). Pruritus and itchy eyes were recorded in all age groups and appeared in much younger subjects than any other manifestations of the infection. Prevalence and onchocercal blindness were linearly related to intensity of infection. The epidemiological significance of these findings, in terms of a future community-wide programme of long-term chemoprophylaxis with Mectizan, is highlighted.
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PMID:Studies on filariasis in Bauchi State, Nigeria. 1. Endemicity of human onchocerciasis in Ningi Local Government Area. 774 92


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